Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
With the country’s inflation reaching 11.61 percent in October, the Federal Government of Nigeria has admitted that its border closure policy contributed heavily to this.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, who disclosed on Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu, however, added that the closure of the land borders was a temporary measure.
Business Post had reported that Nigeria’s inflation rate increased year-on-year to 11.61 percent in October 2019 from 11.24 percent in the previous month, reaching the highest since May of 2018.
The Minister, however, added that the border closure was a temporary measure to help curb the influx of illegal goods into the country which had caused a spike in the prices of food.
Mrs Ahmed said, “Now headline inflation is at about 11:61 percent as of the end of October. The slight increase in inflation between September and October is due to food inflation.
“And part of the reason is the border closure, but the border closure is very short and temporary and the increase is just about two basis point.”
She said since the country had signed up to the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) agreement, the government had to make sure that it put in place checks to make sure that the economy would not be overrun as a result of the coming into effect of the ACFTA.
“We are still discussing with our neighbours to ensure that we all respect our trade protocols, especially now that the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement is coming into effect,” she said.
Mrs Ahmed further said that the federal government expected that the outcomes of the discussions and agreements would make each party to respect the protocols they all committed to in order to open the borders again, adding that it was doing what was important for the country’s economy.
