Politics
THE Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has said that the recent drop in inflation, was a clear indication of the successes of President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies.
The Chairman of the group, Mr Emeka Nwankpa said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
”The decline of 0.79 per cent point in the month of July is a positive development after the inflationary figures had hit an all time – 28-year – high in June,” he said.
.He added that the latest inflation figure of 33.40 per cent for July 2024 which showed a decline from the 34.19 per cent recorded the previous month was note worthy.
“It also represents the first decline since December 2022 when the rate dropped to 21.34 per cent from 21.47 per cent recorded in November 2022 before the 2023 surge.
“The 0.79 per cent difference between the June and July numbers may look marginal, but for us, it is a sign of good things to come,”the group’s chairman said.
He added that this was after a persistent month-on-month spike stretching back to 2020 when Nigerians began to feel the effects of the 2019 partial closure of the borders to food imports.
He further added that going through the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), it was clear that all the measures of inflation showed a decline.
According to Nwankpa, this is a further indication of the success of the Tinubu administration’s ongoing efforts to stem the tide of inflation in the country.
He said the group was never in doubt that the headline inflation figure would drop, even as it was going up month-on-month since the administration came on board because it was convinced by the efficacy its policies.
“Coupled with that are the various analyses by credible local and financial advisory groups which predicted a slow down in the inflation rate on the basis of the Tinubu initiatives as well as figures recorded in recent months.
“For instance, the June 2024 inflation rate of 34.19 per cent was 0.24 per centage points higher than the 33.95 per cent recorded in May 2024, which was a 0.26 per cent higher than the April 2024 figure of 33.69 per cent according to NBS data.
“But all of these would be better understood if one considers that the month-on-month increase in inflation rate within the same period in 2023, between June and July, was 1.29 per centage points before the pace began to decline towards the end of that year into 2024,” he said.
He said this was in addition that food inflation dropped by more than 50 per cent on a month-on-month basis from 4.24 per cent in February 2024 to 2.55 per cent in June 2024 and 2.47 per cent in July 2024,the lowest level since August 2023.
He expressed optimism that the 150-day import duty-free window for essential food items set to kick off fully this August, would lead to a further ease in inflation.
This, Nwankpa said, was as Nigerians await the commencement of petroleum refining at the Port Harcourt and Dangote Refineries which would invariably bring down cost of food items and transportation which were the main drivers of inflation in the country.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to continue to trust in the capacity of the the Tinubu-led administration to take the country’s economy to an enviable height.(NAN)
A.I
Aug. 16, 2024
Tags: Mr Emeka Nwankpa
