Food inflation in Nigeria would increase – Rewane predicts

Food inflation in Nigeria is expected to rise in the upcoming weeks, according to economist Bismarck Rewane.

Rewane, who bemoaned in particular the rising price of beans, pointed to the floods that have destroyed numerous farms, the high cost of transporting goods from the farms to the market, and the rise in petrol prices from roughly ₦600 to approximately ₦1,000 as the reasons behind the rising cost of food products in Nigeria.

He revealed this during a speech on Channels Television on Thursday.

Certain food items, including rice and onions, have seen a slight decrease in price, according to Rewane, but the cost of beans has been rising and is becoming disproportionate.

“We’ve seen onions come down sharply to N115,000, and rice has also come down to N110,000; it was as high as N120,000. The commodity that is surprising to everybody is beans; beans has gone out of storage and out of reach,” he said.

The economist attributed the hike in beans’ prices to recent flooding, which ravaged food-producing states like Borno, Bauchi, and Sokoto, amongst others.

“Flooding has destroyed a lot of goods,” Rewane added.

Rewane, however, expressed optimism that the duty waivers on food items introduced by the federal government would in the long run, moderate prices of foodstuff in the market.

“For now, despite everything, we think that inflation will still increase. Food inflation in particular will increase; headline inflation will increase to 34% but this is only temporary. When the imported commodities that we are going to enjoy the duty waivers come into the country, those prices will start to reduce,” Rewane said.