The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise [CPPE] has advocated the need for the suspension of taxes and levies on the importation of petroleum products .
Chief Executive Officer of CPPE,Dr.Muda Yussuf,said the development was necessary to give a respite on the spiking energy cost in Nigeria.
He said there should also be deeper stakeholder engagements across sectors to develop an enduring strategy on the way forward.
He noted the marginal acceleration of headline inflation from 15.60% in January to 15.70% in February 2022, as contained in the report released by the National Bureau of Statistics [NBS].
He said:”The technical computation of the inflation figures the NBS is not in dispute. However, the reality and severity of the impact of the intense inflationary pressures over the past one year is at variance with the official inflation data.
“For the basket of goods consumed by most households, prices have jumped by between 30-100% over the past one year. The same is true of businesses. The pressure of spiking inflation on household budgets has been excruciating and unbearable. Purchasing power has been massively eroded, real incomes have depressed, and the poverty situation has consequently worsened”
According to him,businesses have been similarly impacted as they have been experiencing a slump in sales, turnover and profits margins.
He said the impact on small businesses is even more severe because of their limited capacity to absorb economic shocks.
He added:”The spiraling inflation dynamics should be elevated to the level of an economic emergency, deserving an urgent policy response at the highest level of government. The impact on citizens welfare is inestimable. The effect on SMEs is troubling. There is elevated social discontent, driven by increasing joblessness and hunger”
