The Nigerian government’s slow response to the inflation that is currently driving many Nigerians into poverty and food insecurity has drawn criticism from the World Bank.
Nigeria’s inflation rate as of May of this year was 17.71 percent, which is greater than the World Bank’s prediction of 15.5 percent inflation in 2022.
On the other hand, the Central Bank of Nigeria recently predicted that, with the full execution of its recent policies geared to strengthen various sectors of the economy, the country’s inflation rate will decline to a single digit in 2022.
According to the World Bank, Nigeria could have one of the highest inflation rates in the world in 2022, which would lower household wellbeing in Nigeria.
In a report obtained by TechEconomy titled, ‘The Continuing Urgency of Business Unusual’, the Washington-based bank said this in its
Part of the report’s conclusion was as follows: “Despite the urgency, the government’s response over the past two years has not been adequate, and inflation has risen and fueled poverty and food insecurity.”
The financial organization also stated that between 2020 and 2022, an additional 15 million Nigerians are expected to fall into poverty as a result of the inflation shock.
According to a different report from the Washington-based bank, the number of poor Nigerians is expected to reach 95.1 million in 2022. It also cautioned that many non-poor Nigerians were just one minor setback away from becoming poor.
The lender claims that such a shock can be brought on by environmental or political unrest, which could endanger Nigeria’s attempts to combat poverty.
Recall that the World Bank had claimed that despite the inflation shock putting an estimated eight million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2021, the Federal Government of Nigeria did not take any coordinated action to reduce inflation.
