By OKEOGHENE AKUBUIKE

Dr Matthew Verghis, Country Director, World Bank Nigeria, has called on the Federal Government to reduce inflation, particularly food inflation, to bridge the gap between policy and people.

Verghis said this based on the World Bank’s latest Nigeria Development Update (NDU) report, titled: “From Policy to People: Bringing the Reforms Gains Home” in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said the NDU report showed that Nigeria had made significant strides in stabilising its economy.

According to Verghis, growth has picked up, revenues has risen, debt indicators are improving, the foreign exchange market is stabilising, reserves are rising and inflation is finally beginning to trend downwards.

He, however, said that in spite of these stabilisation gains, many Nigerians were still struggling with eroded purchasing power and poverty remained a pressing issue.

Verghis said that the report estimated that 139 million Nigerians presently lived in poverty.

He said that while the tight, data-driven monetary policy complemented by a non-expansionary fiscal policy was appropriate to tame inflation, it had evidently not been sufficient.

“Inflation is coming down, but not fast enough.

“These monetary and fiscal policies must be complemented by structural reforms aimed specifically at reducing food inflation, which is driven by deep-seated supply and market inefficiency.

“So the NDU builds on the public sector-led, private-sector-enabled growth agenda outlined in the previous edition,” he said.

He said that did that by suggesting a three-pronged strategy to translate the reform gains into near-term improvements in the living conditions of all Nigerians.

“The first being reducing inflation, especially food inflation,” he said.

Verghis said that the second recommendation was for the government to use public resources more effectively by ensuring that spending drives real development results that benefit the people.

He said that the third recommendation was for the Nigerian government to expand the safety net by providing support to the poorest and most vulnerable members of society.

“These are not abstract ideas. They are practical steps that can turn macro stability into better livelihoods,” he said.

Dr Samer Matta, Acting World Bank Lead Economist for Nigeria, while giving an overview of the report, said that food prices were on the increase, especially items consumed by the poor.

Matta said that to address this challenge, trade barriers on food should be removed and domestic structural constraints should be tackled.

He emphasised the need for the continuous update of Nigeria’s social registry as a tool to target the poor and most vulnerable.

“But in addition to that, it is very important to provide domestic financing for social safety nets,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NDU is a biannual World Bank report that assesses economic and social developments in Nigeria.

It offers an in-depth analysis of the country’s medium-term development challenges. (NAN)