LCCI Urges CBN To Stop Interest Rate Increase

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pause its interest rate hike to relieve Nigerians the pressure on the supply side following increased inflation rate.

In the recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the inflation rate (year-on-year) rose to 25.80 percent in August from 24.08 recorded in July, implying eight consecutive months of increase and the highest since September 2005.

Director of the chamber, Dr Chinyere Almona stated that the chamber is concerned about the uptick in inflation (year-on-year) driven by an increase in both the food and core components of the CPI.

However, Almona noted that the slow pace of headline inflation month-on-month may be an indication that the path of price movements remains unclear in the near term. As a result, the chamber anticipates businesses will implement a variety of cost reduction strategies, including downsizing and local sourcing of input factors as they bid to lower operating expenses.