7 million Nigerians pushed below poverty line in 2020 by rising prices – World Bank

By our reporter| The World Bank has said rPovertyising prices pushed about seven million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2020, the World Bank has said.

In a press statement on Tuesday titled, ‘Critical reforms needed to reduce inflation and accelerate the recovery, and signed by Senior External Affairs Officer of Nigeria, Mansir Nasir, the bank acknowledged that the Federal Government “took measures to protect the economy against a much deeper recession” but it was recommended that certain policies should be set for a strong recovery.”

“The NDU, titled ‘Resilience through Reforms,’ notes that in 2020 the Nigerian economy experienced a shallower contraction of -1.8% than had been projected at the beginning of the pandemic (-3.2%). Although the economy started to grow again, prices are increasing rapidly, severely impacting Nigerian households. As of April 2021, the inflation rate was the highest in four years. Food prices accounted for over 60% of the total increase in inflation. Rising prices have pushed an estimated 7 million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2020 alone,” the statement read.

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, was quoted in the statement to have identified some of the challenges faced by the country and recommended a way forward.

“Nigeria faces interlinked challenges in relation to inflation, limited job opportunities, and insecurity.

”While the government has made efforts to reduce the effect of these by advancing long-delayed policy reforms, it is clear that these reforms will have to be sustained and deepened for Nigeria to realise its development potential,” Chaudhuri said.

The World Bank Lead Economist for Nigeria and co-author of the NDU, Marco Hernandez, also gave a recommendation in the statement.

He said, “Given the urgency to reduce inflation amidst the pandemic, a policy consensus and expedite reform implementation on exchange-rate management, monetary policy, trade policy, fiscal policy, and social protection would help save lives, protect livelihoods, and ensure a faster and sustained recovery.”