Some business owners have urged the federal government to adopt measures that would check food smuggling and improve foreign exchange liquidity to mitigate inflation.

They expressed their views in interviews with journalists Wednesday in Lagos.

Nnemeka Ifenkwe, senior manager at Nissi Agro and Allied Services, called on the federal government to improve its security surveillance to check smuggling of agricultural produce.

According to him, this can be achieved by intensifying surveillance at the borders.

He added that the high cost of transport contributed to an increase in the prices of food produce.

“The cost of moving produce from farm settlements to the general markets has tripled.

“There are other payments by farmers to non-state actors.

“These have been passed down to the final consumer in form of exorbitant prices in the markets,” he said.

Boniface Okezie, president, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to sustain its intervention in the foreign exchange market in order to tackle liquidity issues that fuelled inflation.

He further called for empowerment of the manufacturing sector through reduction in interest rates.

“This will enable manufacturers to have access to cheaper funds in order to produce affordable commodities.

“This will lead to growing of our domestic capacity, and reduce importation,” Mr Okezie said.

He said that the federal government should intensify efforts in tackling insecurity which, he said, contributed largely to increase in prices of foodstuffs.

Okechukwu Unegbu, a former president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, said that the government could tackle inflation by giving more support for local production.

He emphasised the need for provision of reliable and cheaper power supply to every industrial hub to boost local manufacturing and reduce prices of commodities.

He urged the federal government to continue to support establishment of local petro-chemical plants.

He also urged the government to do more to tackle climate change effects.

The National Bureau of Statistics said that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 33.69 per cent in April from 33.20 per cent in March.

This represents a month-over-month increase of 0.49 per cent. 

(NAN)