The cost of goods in Nigeria rose to a record high in 2016, following the persistent increase in prices of goods across the nation.

The consumer price index, which measures inflation rate surged from 9.62 percent in January to about 92 percent in November.

While the CPI figures for December would be released in January 2017, it is projected by experts to remain within 18 percent.

However, the federal government during its National Economic Recovery Growth Plan (NERGP) said it was targeting a growth rate of about 7 percent between 2017 and 2020. This, experts believed will moderate inflation rate accordingly and boost consumer spending.

Speaking on the matter, prof. Akpan Ekpo, the Director General of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management said the government need to embark on structural economic reform to negate some of the challenges facing the nation.

“Our economy only consumes, we do not produce anything that brings foreign exchange. So, what you do is that you direct policies that would encourage people to encourage and manufacture, no matter how little, something that would add value, before you export. What we need now are structural policies. What we have seen is that the central bank has been doing a lot of what it ought not to be doing. The central bank is pushing out a lot of intervention funds. A lot of times, their intervention funds have fiscal coloration. And that is not supposed to be their business.

“So for me, recessions are recurrent in the market system. It comes and goes, but it gives you an opportunity to make sure that you manage the economy properly. No two recessions are alike. Also, they need experts to help them manage the economy. It is not a tea party.

“They need technocrats to advise them. And in our system, no government has a long-run luxury. Every government has four years, so they have to move fast. My worry for Nigeria is more than the economic recession. Let me ask you as question. If for example, the next quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth becomes positive marginally, that means the economy may be out of recession. But has the problem of unemployment been solved? Has that solved the problem of inflation? Has that solved the poverty problem? It has not! So, we need to carry out long-term structural reforms and be serious about what we are doing,” Ekpo stressed.

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