The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the President Bola Tinubu led federal government to implement prudent fiscal policy measures, especially the pausing of interest rate hikes to relieve the pressures on the supply side affecting inflation.
The LCCI in its statement signed by its Director General, Chinyere Almona, said this is particularly in terms of borrowings as well as addressing the challenge of food inflation by immediately reducing and removing tax on basic food items to protect the most vulnerable.
She said businesses will implement a variety of cost reduction strategies to lower operating expenses and maintain profitability amidst inflationary pressures, including downsizing and local sourcing of input factors to remain afloat.
Almona also noted that households’ real income would continue to experience a decline, especially in the near term, citing the business lobby group is concerned about the uptick in inflation (year-on-year) driven by the increase in both the food and core components of the CPI and also the indication that the path of price movements remains unclear in the near term, she added:
The LCCI also called for palliatives to cushion the effect of the rising inflation on consumers, and also a pause in interest rate hikes.