A Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, America’s first research university, Professor Steve Hanke, has decried Nigeria’s “punishing” inflation under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government.
Professor Hanke, who has been keeping tabs on Nigeria’s and global economics, made the remarks in various tweets on his verified Twitter handle.
He also noted that Nigeria’s official inflation rate is fake, stating that the country’s inflation stands at a “punishing” 51.23% per year, contrary to the official 21.1% per year.
Tweeting last week, Hanke lambasted President Buhari for the ‘growing Nigeria’s inflation’ when he tweeted:
“When Pres. Buhari first came into office, he promised to deliver economic growth in [Nigeria]. The only thing that’s grown in Nigeria is inflation. In this week’s inflation table, Nigeria takes the 16th place. On Dec 1, I measured Nigeria’s #inflation at a punishing 51.23%/yr.”
According to Hanke’s inflation dashboard released on December 1, 2022, Nigeria is at the top rung of the inflation ladder alongside heavily bastardised world economies, only better than Turkey, Ukraine, Myanmar, South Sudan, Argentina, Egypt, Laos, Syria, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Cuba, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.
See Hanke’s inflation dashboard below with Nigeria at 16th position:
In a previous inflation rate computed by the Professor of Applied Economics, using Free Market, also called “Black Market”, exchange rate instead of official one, Hanke placed Nigeria 7th at 30%.
See the table below:
1. Venezuela 981%
2. Lebanon 183%
3. Sudan 97%
4. Zimbabwe 89%
5. Syria 55%
6. Ethiopia 36%
7. Nigeria 30%
8. Iraq 29%
9. Turkey 24%, and,
12. Algeria at 13.9%
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s official inflation rate jumped from 20.77% in September 2022 to 21.09% in October 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
NBS revealed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for October, noting that food inflation was 23.72% in October 2022, from 23.34% in September 2022.
“On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate for October 2022 was 1.24 per cent, this was 0.11 per cent lower than the rate recorded in September 2022 (1.36 per cent).
“This means that in October 2022 the general price level for the headline inflation rate (month–on–month basis) declined by 0.11 per cent,” the report partly revealed.
“The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending October 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 17.86 per cent, showing a 0.91 per cent increase compared to the 16.96 per cent recorded in October 2021,” it further noted.
According to the Bureau, the rising inflation rate was caused by importation costs, high energy costs, and surging food prices among others.
“On a year-on-year basis, in October 2022, the urban inflation rate was 21.63 per cent, 5.11 per cent higher compared to the 16.52 per cent recorded in October 2021. On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.33 per cent in October 2022, this was a 0.12 per cent decline compared to September 2022 (1.46%),” the report added. Read more.
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