Economist attributes lowering food prices to harvest season but says prices still high YoY because of insecurity
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
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“Even the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that food prices increased only by 29 per cent.
“So when you see the inflation number, it shows the percentage of increase when you compare it to last year. It does not mean that prices have reduced.
“It said prices increased by 20 per cent of what it was this time last year. However, NBS said that this increase is not as much as what we saw last year and the answers are very simple.
“Yes, we have seen stability in the exchange rate. However, we still have insecurity in the country which is affecting food distribution.
“A couple of days back, you saw what happened in Benue, Plateau, Edo and a few other places there have been concerns around” – Economist.
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A senior economist, Paul Alaje, has attributed the drop in food prices to the current harvest season, prices which may go back up after the season because the change is not as a result of working government agricultural policy.
“There is a reduction in food prices because we are in harvest season. Food prices are still generally high, even though we have seen some reduction in some prices,” Alaje argued on Arise Television.
“Even the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that food prices increased only by 29 per cent.
“So when you see the inflation number, it shows the percentage of increase when you compare it to last year. It does not mean that prices have reduced.
“It said prices increased by 20 per cent of what it was this time last year. However, NBS said that this increase is not as much as what we saw last year and the answers are very simple.
“Yes, we have seen stability in the exchange rate. However, we still have insecurity in the country which is affecting food distribution.
“A couple of days back, you saw what happened in Benue, Plateau, Edo and a few other places there have been concerns around.”
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