The President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa, forecasts that the country’s inflation rate will decrease in 2024.
The PUNCH reported that Idahosa who was speaking in an exclusive interview on Friday, blamed the loss of gasoline subsidies for the acceleration of inflation this year.
According to the LCCI president, if governments at all levels implement measures to combat rising transport and logistics costs, prices will begin to decline in 2024.
Idahosa said, “Certain things were predictable when the President declared that the fuel subsidy was gone. We anticipated a rise in the price of petrol and other petroleum-related products. However, all attempts to cut transport costs have started.
“It will also take time for them to take effect. It will take some time for our CNG buses to arrive. CNG buses are already running from Abeokuta to Mowe and other regions of Edo State, and transit fares are decreasing in those areas.”
According to Idahosa, when the Dangote and Port Harcourt refineries commence operations next year, energy prices will be decreased, affecting price levels.
“We’re going to get an aggregation of that across the country. CNG buses are now available in Borno and Bayelsa, and transportation costs are decreasing in these areas. So, in six to nine months, all of the efforts to replace petrol as the principal mode of transportation will begin to bear fruit.”
Idahosa’s position is consistent with the World Bank’s recent prediction that Nigeria’s inflation rate will begin to decline by 2024.
The Washington-based bank stated in a research titled ‘Macro Poverty Outlook: Country-by-Country Analysis and Projections for the Developing World,’ that ‘the share of Nigerians living below the international poverty line is likely to peak in 2024 at 38.8 per cent before beginning a gradual decline, as inflation cools down and economic growth picks up.”
According to a review of the National Bureau of Statistics’ Commodity Price Index statistics, the country’s inflation has increased 25 times in the last 26 months.
According to the data, Nigeria’s inflation surged 25 times between October 2021 and November 2023, with the exception of December 2022, when it fell to 21.34 per cent from 21.47 per cent in November 2022.
