Price of spaghetti, cooking gas, beans, and oil jumps as traders lament forex scarcity

The latest market survey, carried out by Nairametrics Research reveals the prices of staple food items such as spaghetti, cooking gas, beans, palm oil amongst others spiked in September 2021 compared to the previous month (August 2021).

According to the report, a 500g pack of Golden Penny pasta increased by 3.29% to sell for an average of N5,325 in September 2021, compared to an average of N5,150 recorded in August 2021. Similarly, the cost of filling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas, surged by 26.6% to sell for an average of N6,270 compared to an initial average of N4,600.

The sudden spike in the prices of the items has been attributed to a couple of infrastructural factors, scarcity of forex, as well seasonal fluctuations affecting agricultural food produce. Some traders attributed the increase in the price of cooking gas, palm oil and groundnut oil to the scarcity of forex, which is affecting the cost of importation.

A cursory look at the inflation figures from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that Nigeria’s food index surged by 21.03% year-on-year in July 2021, while it recorded a 0.86% increase when compared to the previous month.

Credit: Nairametrics