Why inflationary pressure mounts — LCCI

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) says the mounting inflationary pressure reported in the November 2020 was expected, given the prevailing economic conditions and escalating cost environment.

Dr Muda Yusuf, Director-General, LCCI made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

NAN reports that the inflation rate for November 2020, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), climbed to 14. 89 per cent from the 14. 23 per cent of October 2020.

This translates to a 0.66 per cent increase.

The LCCI director-general said the development was an indication that the key drivers of inflation had not abated.

He listed them to include sharp exchange rate depreciation, high transportation cost and the perennial bottlenecks at the Lagos ports.

Yusuf said the security challenges impeding agricultural output and demand pressures resulting from the festive season were also contributory factors.

He, however, expressed surprise at the slight decline in core inflation in spite of the skyrocketing prices of imported products.

“High inflation typically weakens purchasing power and aggravates the poverty incidence in the country.

“Mounting inflationary pressures also impacts on production, operating costs across sectors and erodes profit margins of businesses.

“There is no quick fix to the inflation challenge.

“We need to address structural constraints to output and productivity, fix the problem of logistics in all its dimensions, tackle the worsening security situation and reform the foreign exchange market to reduce volatility and uncertainty.

“These are the key solution options to deal with the menacing problem of inflation,” he said.