By Olawale Lamina
The Tinubu Media Support Group, TMSG, has maintained that the deployment of concerted efforts and economic measures by the President Bola Tinubu’s government to fight inflation have begun to yield good effects as inflationary figures begin to capitulate.
The group made this observation and stressed that the recent decline in nation’s inflation figure for July 2024 is the clearest indicator of the efficacy of Tinubu’s economic policies.
The Chairman of TMSG, Emeka Nwankpa and the Secretary, Dapo Okubanjo noted in a statement that a decline of 0.79 per cent point in the month of July is a positive development after the inflationary figures had hit an all time 28-year high in June, 2024.
The statement read in part: “The latest inflation figure of 33.40% for July 2024 which shows a decline from the 34.19% recorded the previous month is noteworthy especially as it is the first drop in inflation rate since President Bola Tinubu assumed office.
“It also represents the first decline since December 2022 when the rate dropped to 21.34% from 21.47% recorded in November 2022 before the 2023 surge.
“The 0.79% difference between the June and July numbers may look marginal, but for us, it is a sign of good things to come after a persistent month-on-month spike stretching back to 2020 when Nigerians began to feel the effects of the 2019 partial closure of the borders to food imports.
“And going through the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), it is clear that all the measures of inflation showed a decline so this is a further indication of the success of the Tinubu administration’s ongoing efforts to stem the tide of inflation in the country.
“We were never in doubt that the headline inflation figure would drop even as it was going up month-on-month since the administration came on board because we were convinced by the efficacy of the President’s policies.
“Coupled with that are the various analyses by credible local and financial advisory groups which had predicted a slow down in the inflation rate on the basis of the Tinubu initiatives as well as figures recorded in recent months.
“For instance, the June 2024 inflation rate of 34.19% was 0.24 percentage points higher than the 33.95% recorded in May 2024, which was a 0.26% higher than the April 2024 figure of 33.69% according to NBS data.
“But all of these would be better understood if one considers that the month-on-month increase in inflation rate within the same period in 2023 (between June and July) was 1.29 percentage points before the pace began to decline towards the end of that year into 2024.
“In addition to this is that the trend in food inflation which has dropped by more than fifty percent on a month-on-month basis from 4.24% in February 2024 to 2.55% in June 2024 and 2.47 % in July 2024. This is the lowest level since August 2023.
“It is against this backdrop that we make bold to say that the 150-day, import duty-free window for essential food items which is set to kick off fully this month will lead to a further ease in inflation even as Nigerians await the commencement of petroleum refining at the Port Harcourt and Dangote Refineries any moment from now.”
The group acknowledged that the measures so far taken would invariably jerk down the cost of food items and transportation in the country both of which are the main drivers of inflation.
TSMG also drew reference to the statement by the Coordinating Minister of Finance and Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, after the recent Council of State meeting, stating that, “we are convinced that the President is not comfortable with the country’s inflation rate and will continue to mobilize the human and other resources at his disposal to bring succour to Nigerians.”
The pro-Tinubu group called on Nigerians to continue to trust the in the capacity of President’s Tinubu administration to take the nation’s economy to an enviable height.
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