Despite Nigeria’s inflation rate rising to 33.69%, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has expressed optimism about the Nigeria’s economic outlook, suggesting that the situation is improving.
He conveyed this sentiment during a recent interview with Television Continental (TVC).
Onanuga highlighted that the month-to-month inflation rate has shown a slight decrease, which he sees as an indicator of a positive trend. He noted that food prices are starting to drop and will continue to decline across the country.
Onanuga stated, “I read a report recently saying inflation has moved to a staggering 33.69%. How is it staggering? Last month in April, inflation was 33.4 something. Then it moved by a mere 0.26%.
“In fact, from March to April, inflation slowed down. So things are improving. People will soon begin to feel the impact of all these reductions.
“I had a call from my town a few days ago, with someone telling me the price of garri is going down. Inflation is on a reduction level. And it’ll continue to go down.”
Onanuga emphasized that Tinubu is committed to implementing measures to mitigate the effects of federal reforms on citizens.
One of the key initiatives mentioned by Onanuga is the introduction of a student loan scheme designed to support students and their parents financially. He also pointed out that the current economic challenges were largely inherited, noting that inflation was already at 23.65% when Tinubu took office.
“This government when it came in May last year, inflation was at 23.65%. The movement from there till now is about 10.4%.
’We already had some problems before this government came into office. We didn’t create all the problems. We inherited many of them. And this government is making so much effort to reduce these problems.
“One of those things that the government is doing is the introduction of a student loan scheme. Millions of students will benefit from this. This will also help the parents at home,” Onanuga added.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s inflation rate increased to 33.95% in May 2024, up from 33.69% in April 2024. The food inflation rate also surged to 40.66% year-on-year, marking a significant rise from the previous year.
Follow the Parallel Facts channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaCQSAoHgZWiDjR3Kn2E
