Prices of Commodities Surge Over Scarcity of Forex

The scarcity of forex in the nation’s money market has led to the surge in the prices of some imported goods in the country  in recent times.

The consistent rise of the Dollar and other foreign currencies such as CFA, Pound Sterling and Euro against the naira has  affected the prices of electronics, stationaries, and cloths, building materials, food such as sugar, rice vegetable and palm oil among others.

A bag of sugar in some markets in Abuja are now N9,000 up from N7,500 two weeks ago, a 25 litre of Vegetable and Palm oils now sold at between N7,500 to N8,000 from N6,700, Daily Trust gathered.

Battery pack AA size was N250 now is N350. Rice, a staple food in almost all the households in the country was affected by the price hike in the market, a 50 kg of imported rice is now between N10,700 to N11,000 and the 25 kg as high N5,500 from about N10,000 and N4,800 respectively in the December 2015.

At the electronic markets, phone such as BlackBerry, Infinix, Samsung, Nokia, and LG and their accessories went up sharply as some distributors increased the prices by almost 5 per cent when the naira crashed to about N300 per dollar two weeks ago.

A dealer in imported clothes in Sabon Gari area, Dayyabu Muhammed told Daily Trust that he had to constantly adjust the prices of his wares because if the prices remain fixed, the losses he would incur could cripple the business.

He said a new shirt for men which previously sold at N1,200 is now sold between N1,700 to N2,000 while a denim trouser rose from N2,000 to N3,000 or N3,500.