Expert calls for deliberate food policy to stem inflation

Mr. Eddie Osarenkhoe, a financial expert, has advised the Federal Government to come up with a deliberate fiscal policy to stem inflation.

Osarenkhoe, the immediate past President of the Finance Houses Association of Nigeria (FHAN), gave the advice while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Ota, Ogun.

He was reacting to a statement by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that the nation’s inflation rate increased from 29.90 per cent in January to 31.70 per cent in February.

He said that the advice became necessary to enable the federal government to put on hold the rising cost of food and inflation in the country.

The financial expert stressed the need for the federal government to look inward at what was driving the inflationary trend, and come out with a policy that would control the situation.

“There is the need for a clear-cut fiscal policy by the federal government to help fight inflation.

“However, the federal government needs to combine its fiscal policy with the monetary policy of the apex bank to stem inflation,” he said.

Osarenkhoe said that with the forces of demand and supply determining the market force, prices of things would continue to go up.

He suggested that the federal government needed to put in place some control measures such as food incentives as seen in developed countries.

According to him, no country can just leave everything to market forces because even in America, they still subsidise food.

He said if the government left everything to the forces of demand and supply, inflation would continue to go up.

The financial expert appealed to the federal government to look for a way of subsidising food by granting incentives to people in terms of food since food was the need of everyone.

Osarenkhoe said that the sharing of money to people would not help to control the inflationary trend which was fueled by the forces of demand and supply.

He urged the federal government to redouble its efforts through the implementation of effective monetary policies and grant incentives to people in terms of food and other essential things.