High Transportation Cost Responsible For Inflation – Zainab Ahmed

The Federal Government has attributed the recent spike in inflation to the rising costs of moving goods across the country.

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, made this disclosure on Friday at a virtual event titled Finance Bill 2020 public consultations.

The Minister said the current “inflation is driven by the cost of transport”.

According to her: “If you look at the rate at which our inflation is going, and you disaggregate the components, you will find that inflation is largely driven by transport cost”.

Government’s resolve, she said, “is to reduce transportation cost so that businesses will have ease and pass benefits to eventual consumers.”

The draft Finance bill 2020, she assured, will address measures to reduce the cost of transportation.

According to her, the bill will have some “interesting new proposals that will look into fiscal relief for mass transit”.

She explained it will be “designed to provide support for mass transit by reviewing the duties regime”.

This, she said, is because government recognises transportation as one of the major cost drivers in the economy.