The price of rice has risen again after falling marginally in April 2024 to N72,000 per 50kg bag as the naira strengthened against the US dollar.
A previous report by TimesNow.com.ng revealed that the price of parboiled rice dropped for the first time this year in April, which relieved families and reduced living standards across the country.
A market survey across Lagos and significant cities shows that in four months, the price of a 50kg bag of rice has decreased by 20%, from an average of N90,000 to N72,000.
Experts have attributed the staple’s price drop to the rise in the value of the naira against the US dollar.
Also, the average cost of 50kg of locally parboiled rice was reduced by 11.7% from N77,000 to N68,000 in the same period due to the reopening of the Nigeria-Niger land border.
However, following the naira crash against the dollar in April and early May, rice prices have skyrocketed above N80,000 per 50kg bag.
Sellers reported difficulty in sourcing the commodity despite the reopening of land borders between Nigeria and the Niger Republic.
According to them, sourcing the product in the open market is challenging, especially as Nigeria Customs embarks on period raids in markets across the country.
Stanley Ikenna, a seller in the Ogba area of Ikeja, said the price rose again because they find it challenging to buy the product in the open market.
In the April inflation report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), food inflation reached 40.53% yearly.
The rise in food inflation is attributed to the increase in the prices of other items such as flour, garlic, bread, prepacked wheat flour, and semolina.
Food items, such as yam tubers, water yams, and cocoyams, also contributed to high food inflation during the review period.
At the end of April 2024, the average annual food inflation rate stood at 32.74%, representing 9.52 percentage points over the 23.22% average annual rate recorded in April 2024.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that there were palpable fears over the possibility of 10-year-old Thai rice finding its way into Nigeria as the country grappled with the high cost of the commodity.
Thailand reportedly planned to auction off about 150,000 sacks of rice kept in warehouses for about 10 years, expecting to generate between $5.4 and $10.8 million from the sale.
The move generated a buzz among citizens and food safety experts, who fear the health conditions of the rice.
Proofread by Kola Muhammed, a journalist and copyeditor at TimesNow.com.ng
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
