Festus Keyamo : Inflation – Nigeria Doing Better than US, Canada, Russia, Spain and others. Really?

Festus Keyamo, APC minister of State for Labour and Employment said that Nigeria fared better than the United States of America, Canada, Russia, Spain and others in the percentage rise of inflation rate.

His words: “We are better than major countries around the world like the United States of America, like Canada, like Russia, like Spain, like Germany. Go and fact-check me. I am not saying their inflation is 18 per cent. I am talking about the percentage of increase. In other words, we have tried to keep inflation down more than major countries.”

According to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s inflation rate increased to 19.64 in July. This is almost 20 percent rise of inflation rate at the third quarter of the year.

“Inflation Rate in the United States averaged 3.28 percent from 1914 until 2022, reaching an all time high of 23.70 percent in June of 1920 and a record low of -15.80 percent in June of 1921.” What U.S. experienced in 1920 is where Nigeria is heading to in 2022 as inflation rate fast approaching  20 percent.

Yet Nigerian politicians especially Festus Keyamo is comparing apples with oranges. Some cities or municipalities in United States of America have bigger budgets than the entire Nigeria.

For instance, New York City with population of 19.84 has a budget of $101 billion compared to Nigeria with population of over 200 million people with $35.66 billion for 2021 budget.

While United States of America inflation rate is at 9.1 percent, Nigeria is almost 20 percent with rising food prices beyond the reach of average Nigerian income. Yet Nigerian politician is keen to comparing developed nations rising inflation rate with Nigeria.

United States with population of 300 million people has a $5.8 trillion budget for 2022 fiscal year, which is over 160 million times bigger than Nigerian annual budget .