A fresh public opinion poll by NOIPolls on yesterday revealed that
Nigerians have been compelled to adjust the feeding patterns of their
families, while others have resigned to fate, resorting to seeking
divine intervention through prayers as the country’s economic situation
worsens.
The poll conducted in conjunction with Business Day Media revealed that
about two-thirds of the country’s 170 million population (66 percent)
lamented the hardship they and members of their families were facing
since the country’s economic situation worsened over the past three
months.
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, and the Governor of the Central
Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, confirmed the country’s economy was in
recession.
A recession is a general downturn in any economy, with significant
decline in activity across the economy, lasting longer than some
months, associated with high unemployment, slowing real gross domestic
product, declining income and high inflation.
The poll said Nigerians believe the recession was triggered by recent
happenings in the macro and micro economic landscape, includng the
decline in the global crude oil prices, which resulted in outcomes that
have negatively impacted their personal economic wellbeing and living
standards.
Key among the recent economic challenges faced by Nigerians include huge
increase in prices of goods and services (43 per cent); hike in petrol
pump price (18 per cent); rise in the cost of transportation (10 per
cent); devaluation of the Naira and foreign exchange crisis (8 per
cent); poor electricity supply (7 per cent); irregular payment of
salaries (4 percent); increase in electricity tariff (3 per cent).
The report said the findings were corroborated by recent inflation
figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), putting
headline inflation in June 2016 at about 16.5 percent, the highest in
more than six years.
Credit: Premium Times
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