The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has disclosed that the high costs of aviation fuel contributed majorly to Nigeria’s inflation rate in the month of July 2022 which rose to a 17-year high of 19.64%.
The LCCI DG, Dr Chinyere Almona made this public in an interview with NAN on Monday after the inflation report was released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
She added that the FG’s intervention so far has not impacted the inflationary pressures that keep rising.
Dr Chinyere Almona noted that the high cost of aviation fuel, Jet A1 drove the cost of air transport to the roof, becoming a major driver of the July inflation rate.
She added that for manufacturers, input prices spiked due to an increase in diesel, coupled with the country’s electricity crisis worsening alongside a bumpy road to renewable energy deployment. She urged FG to deploy a good mix of both fiscal and monetary policies to tackle the core drivers of the inflation scourge in Nigeria.
Dr Almona also urged that there should be targeted financing for critical sectors including agriculture, food processing, aviation fuels, transport, and foreign exchange availability for manufacturing inputs.
“A major worry is about the inflation scourge constraining production, causing job losses, and courting an imminent recession.
“It is obvious that government’s intervention so far has not impacted the inflationary pressures that keep rising till now.
“Without concrete and quick steps to intervene, the rising tide of inflation rate may continue into the end of the year,” she said.
Nigeria’s inflation rate in the month of July 2022 rose to a 17-year high of 19.64%. This compares to 18.6% recorded in the previous month of June 2022.
Food inflation rose to its highest level in 14 months, standing at 22.02% in July 2022, representing a 1.42%-point increase compared to 20.6% recorded in the previous month.
The latest inflation data is according to the recently released Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for the month of July 2022, by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
