Inflation: Buhari to address rising food prices, convene Food Security Council meeting –Minister

*Zainab Ahmed, Minister for Finance, discloses the Federal Government is planning to organise a National Food Security Council meeting to address increasing food prices in the country’s economy

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

President Muhammadu Buhari will soon convene a National Food Security Council meeting to address the current food price hikes in the Nigerian economy.

Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Honourable Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, disclosed this development to reporters Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, FCT.

Mrs. Ahmed, earlier had presented the First Quarter of 2022 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report to the FEC at the meeting.

ConsumerConnect reports the Minister informed the Council that inflation had started going upward in the economy.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), she noted, had to adjust the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 13 percent in the last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to manage the cost of inflation.

She stated: “Council has also decided that the National Food Security Council will very quickly meet to address the issue of food inflation.

“And also provide a plan and some methods in which we can reduce the cost of food to support improved food prices for the citizens.”

As regards the GDP report, Mrs. Ahmed said  it indicated that the Nigerian economy had grown by 3.1percebt in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022.

The Minister said: “This growth shows a gradual economic stability from the recession that we witnessed in 2020.

“It also shows the six quarter of positive growth that the Nigerian economy has presented.”

She also said: “Though there has been growth in some sectors, there are significant contraction than others but the net effect is positive growth.

“Also yesterday (Tuesday) Buhari urged world leaders to come together and strategise on ways to avert the looming food crisis around the globe.”

Recall the President spoke in Madrid, Spain, at the Royal Palace during an audience with his Royal Majesty, King Felipe VI, in continuation of his State Visit to the country.

Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement said the two leaders, who canvassed a global action against food insecurity, especially in wheat production occasioned by the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war.

The duo also urged world leaders to take concrete actions to avert the crisis.

The presidential Spokesman stated the King noted that Nigeria is an important country, and he looked forward to an opportunity to visit the country, especially against the background of stronger cooperation being forged by the two countries.

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