The World Bank has called on the Nigerian government to urgently reduce high import tariffs and lift certain import bans as veritable measure to fast-track and ease soaring prices and curb rising poverty.
World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mathew Verghis, made this assertion during an interview with a news channel on Thursday.
Verghis warned that inflation remains dangerously high and continues to erode the purchasing power of millions of Nigerians.
He said the Bank’s projections show poverty levels in Nigeria may continue rising through 2025 and possibly into 2026 if inflation is not decisively addressed.
According to him, “The reason we are projecting poverty to continue to rise in 2025, and possibly into 2026, is because inflation remains high enough that it’s undermining household incomes, especially for the poor, because food inflation remains at around 20%.
Verghis stressed that Nigeria’s ongoing economic reforms must be sustained, warning that countries like India and China achieved stability only through decades of consistent reform.
He however, emphasised that certain policy actions could produce quicker relief for households.
“Nigeria has high tariffs and, in some cases, import bans on goods consumed by the poor… One way of lowering inflation quickly is to reduce some of these tariffs and take away some of these import bans,” he said, noting their consistency with ECOWAS commitments.
Speaking on Nigeria’s volatile exchange rate, Verghis cautioned against artificial stabilisation, arguing instead for market-driven alignment.
“The best way to keep the Naira stable is to make sure that your exports are increasing and your foreign direct investment is increasing,” he said.
He added that stability is not the end goal: “The primary objective is to get growth going, and a stable exchange rate that allows businesses to plan will contribute to that.”
The World Bank Country Director also praised progress in revenue diversification. “Nigeria is now, today, much less dependent on oil revenues than it was before.
He attributed this to a more realistic exchange rate and the removal of petrol subsidies. He argued that higher non-oil revenues will allow greater investment in infrastructure and human capital.
On Nigeria’s borrowing, he said the outlook is improving. “The debt-to-GDP ratio is now at levels we consider reasonably moderate,” he said. With rising revenues, “the debt-to-revenue ratio is now actually falling for the first time in a long time.”
“If you keep borrowing… and the money gets wasted, then eventually you’ll have a debt problem. The key is that the debt is borrowed and spent wisely.” he said.
Recently, the World Bank raised concerns over the inefficiency of Nigeria’s social safety net programmes, revealing that despite more than half of the beneficiaries being poor, the majority of the country’s poor population remains unreached.