Inflation Outpaces Earnings As Daily Realities Contradict NBS Data
• Plans To Increase Wages Undermined By Rising Budget Deficit, High OPEX By Firms • Dwindling Wages Affecting Real Productivity • Employers urged to remain as choice during crisis • Young Employees Are Hardest Hit As Strategies Reeled Out To Stay Stron
WITHlimited policy response to check spiking inflation, especially from the fiscal side, many Nigerians may be sinking into the poverty hole, worsened by rising food inflation as well as extremely weak and stagnated incomes.
For a country where most of the household goods have dollar inputs, either in the form of energy ( imported diesel/ petrol) or imported raw material, the monthly minimum wage is insufficient to sustain feeding alone. Earlier this year, analysts at Picodi. com, an international e- commerce firm, checked how the minimum wage rates have changed in 64 countries, including Nigeria and whether such amounts can ensure a minimum standard of living in a given country.
They discovered that Nigeria had the worst situation among 64 countries where the research was conducted, noting that basic food sufficient to meet the minimum nutrient requirements is worth 136.6 per cent of the minimum wage in Nigeria, the worst rate among the 64 countries.
According to them, the value of basic food products for the healthy living of an adult in a month, at the beginning of 2022, stood at N40,980, higher than the N30,000 minimum wage in Nigeria. This represents a 15.89 per cent increase compared to the beginning of 2021. Ten months after, the situation appears to have worsened, especially with the decline in the value of the Naira in recent weeks.
If the outlook for food inflation is anything to go by, as compounded by the recent floods in many parts of the country and insecurity, Nigerians may have to deal with food insecurity and increasing loss of purchasing power.
Though the roots of today’s inflation are a more complicated cocktail of several forces: from the spike in raw material, energy, and commodities prices due in large part to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to lingering supply chain disruptions and distorted forex market, the reality of the average Nigerian is that of people living on the ledge, with direction and buffer from the government appearing to be missing.
Tracked price movement as done by the National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS) appears to be dated and far from market realities as many households have seen significant spikes in daily household items, outpacing data released by the government.
For many households, rising inflation poses a significant challenge, as higher prices continue to erode the value of real wages and savings, leaving households poorer. While poorer households struggle to find a balance, wealthier households are hedging savings by leveraging the US dollar.
Notwithstanding plans by the Federal Government to adjust workers’ salaries, the reality of deficit financing and rising debts might make such a move a wishlist, just as the private sector operators struggle to sustain operations and workforce due to FX exposures and rising costs of operations.
Already, as the cost of living soars, the financial crisis is already taking a toll on employees’ mental health and wellbeing, thereby affecting productivity at the workplace.
Majority of them lamented that their monthly take- home pay no longer takes them home considering the high cost of commodities in the country.
Already, the price of a bag of rice has jumped 54 per cent in two months, selling at N43,000 and currently above the N30,000 minimum wage.
Even as the Federal Government has put plans to increase workers’ salaries from the current N30,000 minimum wage to conform with the current reality, citizens have called for urgent implementation as financial challenges become overwhelming.
Already, the N30,000 minimum wage, which is not accompanied by other support measures, has become insufficient to keep many households running. In fact, most workers have lost nearly a year’s salary due to rising inflation.
The Guardian gathered that the recent data on food inflation from the National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS) and Selected Food Prices Watch Report for September 2022 increment does not conform with the reality on ground as regards the current prices of food commodities in the market.
With the rising inflation, checks by The Guardian on current prices of food commodities in the market have skyrocketed, eroding most of the workers’ income.
The NBS had reported that 1kg of rice rose to N445.12 in September but The Guardian findings showed that currently, 1kg sells for N750.00, indicating a 40.65 per cent increase.
Also, the report showed that the average price of palm oil ( 1 bottle) increased by 30.70 per cent from N709.50 in September 2021 to N927.34 in September 2022 but the current price in the open market sells for N1,100.
The report said the average price of vegetable oil ( 1 bottle) was N1, 075.89 in September 2022. Right now the price has risen to N1,200.
Price of 1kg of beans ( brown, sold loose) from NBS data increased by 2.05 per cent from N545.61 in August 2022 but its current price is sold at N800.
1kg of tomato on a month- to- month basis increased to N445.12 in September 2022 from N430.93 recorded in August 2022, indicating a 3.29 per cent increase. However, the current market price indicates it’s selling for N550.
Though the roots of today’s inflation are a more complicated cocktail of several forces: from the spike in raw material, energy, and commodities prices due in large part to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to lingering supply chain disruptions and distorted forex market, the reality of the average Nigerian is that of people living on the ledge, with direction and buffer from the government appearing to be missing.
Similarly, the NBS said the average price of 1kg of beef ( boneless) increased by 24.39 per cent on a year- on- year basis from N1,768.14 recorded in September 2021 to N2,199.37 in September 2022 but currently sells for N2,500.
The Guardian gathered that the cost of living crisis in Nigeria is causing greater focus on financial wellbeing of employees, as workers earning with the N30,000 minimum wage range have resorted to doing menial jobs after work to augment their allowances and meet up with basic needs.
Most of them after close of work engage in riding tricycle, POS services while some at the weekend engage in catering and laundry services, among others to augment their income to take care of their families.
For instance, Cynthia Nduka, who works in a private school, says she earns N33,500, adding that the salary was no longer sustaining her due to rise in price of foodstuffs and other essential commodities.
She said with the paltry sum she earns, some of her siblings are still dependent on her, which had made her engage in menial jobs to sustain her home front.
According to her, “On weekends I join a catering services company to augment the little I earn. The little support from the food company still goes a long way to meet my needs and feeding for the weekend. I pray things take shape quickly because I’m no longer finding it funny again. Government should please address some policies that will reduce prices of staple foods and household commodities.”
Similarly, a Grade 6- Level civil servant, Solomon Thompson, a father of three children and wife, said the rise in cost of living has made him engage in tricycle business after work to meet up with family needs.
He said after the close of work, he takes the tricycle, which he said he bought from the savings he made to add up to support his household.
“With the financial support of my wife, I had to quickly buy a tricycle before I finish the little in my account on feeding and household expenses. So after work, I engage in the transportation business, say from 5: 30pm up to 9pm. Though it has been stressful, I have no choice so that I can provide for my family and pay my children’s school fees. Government should hasten the increase of our salaries as they have promised to add up on our financial needs,” he said.
While most employers are clear that responsibility for finances lies with individual employees and not the employer, The Guardian gathered that a healthy or poor financial wellbeing across a workforce can affect an organisation’s success and sustainability.
The International Labour Organisation ( ILO) in conjunction with the World Health Organisation ( WHO) estimated that 12 billion workdays are lost yearly due to depression and anxiety costing the global economy nearly $ 1 trillion.
Just as the world began to return to something resembling normality, the new global crises, which emerged, have given employees little respite from stress and effect on their wellbeing.
The Guardian gathered that the younger employees are the hardest hit, as the cost of living crisis has not impacted everyone equally.
Data from Aviva revealed that employees between the ages of 25 and 34 are more likely to experience financial stress than their older counterparts, making them likely to seek and engage with financial wellbeing support.
It said the younger employees are a demographic in which employers could generate significant impact with their financial wellbeing support.
The Director- General of the ILO, Gilbert Houngbo, at the just- concluded International Monetary ( IMF) meetings in Washington DC, described a cost of living crisis fuelled by higher prices and a decoupling of wage growth from productivity growth, leading to falling real wages.
He said without immediate action and