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· Disposable income of many Nigerian households are spending more on food following continued rise in food inflation
· The CPI spurt was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, meat, fruits, oils and fats and fish
· Flooding in some parts of the country must have negatively influenced the food basket, bread, biscuits, noodles, semo, and spaghetti among others
Disposable income of many Nigerian households are spending more on food following the continued rise in food inflation.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says that consumer price index (CPI) , which measures inflation increased by 12.82 per cent (year-on-year) in July 2020, or 0.26 per cent higher than the rate recorded in June 2020 (12.56) per cent. This is the highest rise since March 2018. The composite food index rose by 15.48 per cent in July compared to 15.18 per cent in June.
The CPI spurt was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, meat, fruits, oils and fats, and fish. Flooding in some parts of the country must have negatively influenced the food basket, bread, biscuits, noodles, semo, and spaghetti among others. These are made from wheat. Incidentally, Nigeria imports 90 per cent of the commodity for the production of other food items.
Importers, against the backdrop of supply squeeze of foreign exchange have had to source their dollars outside the official window at a higher cost to import. This adds up the cost, which is passed in to the consumers.
