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Living from Hand to Mouth and Making the Best of a Bad Situation

With inflation rising to 16.82%, especially food inflation which spiked to 18.4% in April, consumers are under significant pressure. The main culprit is the price of diesel, which has remained stubbornly high at N650 per liter. As a coping strategy, consumers are switching to cheaper substitutes, and in some cases reducing the quantity demanded. Also, in spite of the rising inflation, wages have largely remained stagnant. These conditions are eroding consumer purchasing power as disposable income remains squeezed. The NBS noted that 25% of Nigerians reduced food consumption while 50% reduced non-food consumption as they attempt to cope with the current hardship.

Indeed, this is the time to look for locally produced commodities. Unity Bank is a strong agriculture supporting institution and will continue to support agriculture through targeted lending and other technical support to farmers. Global oil price has remained elevated since the Russian-Ukraine war. It is expected that the higher oil price will lead to increase in foreign exchange earnings for Nigeria and that the naira may appreciate thereby softening the woes of Nigerian consumers.

In this edition of Unity Bank Digest, we provide you with intriguing recent economic news and interesting social stories.

Please enjoy your read!