NIGERIA: Many Nigerians face a bleak Christmas as food prices soar and the naira dips

Record ID: 235226

  • Title: NIGERIA: Many Nigerians face a bleak Christmas as food prices soar and the naira dips
  • Date: 24th December 2008
  • Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) ++NIGHT++ VARIOUS OF CHRISTMAS LIGHTS DECORATING LAGOS HIGHWAYS
  • Embargoed: 8th January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Economic News
  • Reuters ID: LVA6EW15Y6NX8Q5S5YWRCDX59GJ
  • Story Text: Many Nigerians living in the sprawling port city of Lagos say they face a bleak Christmas season as food prices soar and the naira continues to depreciate against the U.S. dollar.
    In stark contrast, elaborate Christmas light decorations dot many highways and busy intersections across the city. In the past few weeks, hundreds of generators have provided power to keep the decorations lit in the commercial capital of Africa's most populous country.
    In recent days, the city's main market has been full of people bargaining hard for food items and new clothes that will be used to celebrate Christmas.
    But consumers complain that prices have increased for staple foods such as rice, maize, yam, guinea corn, millet, meat, fruit and vegetables.
    The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics said on its website that Nigeria's inflation rate rose to 14.8 percent in November from 14.7 percent the previous month.

    "The situation is that we don't have food, there's no food, we don't have light, no water," lamented Oyegun Ojo, an artisan in Lagos.

    "The economy is very tight. You could find out that the things we used to buy, the prices have increased with 60 percent to 80 percent, you talk about rice, chicken, even goat meat and all those things," added businessman Sylvester Azubuogu.
    The Nigerian naira depreciated further to 139.55 to the U.S. dollar on Monday (December 22) from 136.20 on Friday after the closure of the central bank foreign exchange window led to dollar scarcity.
    Importers have hiked prices in order to meet the naira shortfall.

    "The disposable income this year is not as last year comparatively. This year, most of the buyers are asking for 25 kg and lesser quantities, as compared with last year when they were just buying up 50 kg in droves," said Patricia Leon, an importer of rice.
    Some bankers predicted that the naira could depreciate to about 159 to the U.S. dollar before the end of the year.
    On Tuesday (December 23), Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua named Mansur Muhtar of the African Development Bank as the new finance minister.
    Muhtar will have to navigate sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy through a global financial crisis, lower oil prices and a sharp currency devaluation that have put a damper on the holiday season for many Nigerians.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register