LCCI worries over rise in inflation hampering manufacturing

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has noted that the continuous rise in inflation is squeezing consumers’ spending and saving as well as constraining manufacturing productivity.

The Director-General, LCCI, Dr Chinyere Almona, expressed worries as Nigeria’s inflation keeps going up instead of regressing, rising to 27.33 per cent in October from 26.72 per cent in the previous month. She stressed that this represents a 0.61 percentage point increase, reflecting higher food and fuel prices as sources of consistent depreciation of the naira.

According to her, “The annual consumer price inflation soared by 6.24 per cent points when compared to 21.09 recorded in the corresponding month in 2022. On a month-on-month, consumer prices rose by 1.73 per cent in October, following a 2.1 per cent surge in the prior month.

“Food inflation rate increased to 31.52 per cent in the month, implying 0.88 per cent point increase from 30.64 per cent in the previous month and 7.8 per cent points increase compared to 23.72 per cent points in the corresponding month in 2022. Similarly, core inflation increased to 22.58 per cent, indicating 0.73 per cent point and 5.12 per cent points increase when compared to 21.84 per cent and 17.46 per cent in September 2023 and October 2022 respectively.

“In terms of contributions of items, the data revealed that food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed the highest to the price increase at 14.16 per cent followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel (4.57 per cent), clothing and footwear (2.09 per cent), transport (1.78 per cent) and furnishings and household equipment and maintenance (1.37 per cent). Following ten consecutive months of acceleration, the battle against inflation must be intensified by the CBN."

She further advised economic agents to deploy strategies that would mitigate inflationary pressure, recommending that the government focus its efforts on ways to boost confidence and attract foreign direct investments (FDIs).

While speaking on behalf of the chamber, Almona said that the government should continue to address the problems of insecurity and other factors affecting agriculture productivity in the country to improve food supply.

She said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should, as a matter of urgency, prioritise the stability of the country’s currency and adopt the right policy mix to ensure price stability."