LIVE UPDATES
Following the recent increase in the pump price of petrol and the prevailing food supply challenges gripping the country, economists have warned that the number of Nigerians below the poverty line may soon exceed the 104 million projected by the World Bank in 2023.
The global bank had said the poverty rate in the country increased to 46 per cent in 2023 representing 104 million poor Nigerians.
Disclosing this in its Nigeria development update, titled, ‘Turning the Corner: From Reforms & Renewed Hope, to Results’, released in December last year, the World Bank said Nigeria’s poverty rate had risen from 40 per cent in 2018 to 46 per cent, as the number of poor people increased from 79 million to 104 million.
“Sluggish growth and rising inflation have increased poverty from 40 per cent in 2018 to 46 per cent in 2023, pushing an additional 24 million people below the national poverty line,” the World Bank
The report said the number of poor people in urban areas — more exposed to inflation — increased from 13 million to 20 million, while the number of poor people in rural areas rose to 84 million from 67 million within the same period.
The World Bank had predicted that the increase in poverty rate would be undone by the economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu from the beginning of 2024 till 2026.
