Thread by @Chxta

Upon gaining power in 1979, Margaret Thatcher made the defeat of inflation in the UK its number one priority.

The 1970s were a difficult time for #Britain inflation-wise, and Meg Thatcher was willing to do anything to stop it.

In my latest piece in @BusinessDayNg, I disagree with my editor.

He thinks we are headed towards stagflation, I'm certain we're already there.

The full text is here, bit.ly/3duFRz3, what follows is a summary.

With #Nigeria's food inflation at 23% and headline inflation at 18%, @cenbank doesn't appear to be giving rising consumer prices the attention it deserves.

Rising prices are compounded by low-output growth and high unemployment, the textbook definition of stagflation.

Despite @cenbank's key mandate of ensuring monetary and price stability, one of the major inflationary pressures over the last few years has been capital controls.

The problem is, #Nigeria never does much by way of assessing the impact of policies.

For example, Buhari has now admitted that the 15-month border closure measure was ineffective.

What he did not say, but what most observers know, is that the border closure was a huge factor in the food price increases.

Is the govt doing an impact study?

Confirming the low-income status of #Nigeria's economy, a study showed that 63% of Nigerians spend 59% of their income on food alone.

https://twitter.com/sbmintelligence/status/1163714943906189312

This scenario just highlights the enormous impact high food inflation has as the rising cost of food, which is the most basic essential, will impact all other expenditure.

In February, food inflation was highest in Kogi (30%), followed by Ebonyi (26%) & Sokoto (26%).

The way out is in tax revenue, but to mobilise that effectively to fund its budgets, the government needs to create a stable macroeconomic environment for private enterprises to thrive and create jobs, and for businesses and workers to pay their taxes.

Unfortunately, it appears that Buhari's Abuja is more interested in central control than in unleashing the undoubted capability of the people that occupy this geographical expression.