Minimum wage: FG urged to curb inflation

By Fatima Muraina
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For workers to derive maximum value from the salary increment and curb inflation, the Federal Governnent has been urged to fix prices of goods and services .

An analyst, Mr Lade Fasua gave this advice while speaking in an interview with The Hope in Akure, Ondo state capital.

According to him fixing prices of goods and services should have been the first thing to do before the approval of the new minimum wage because market forces have pushed down naira value by 50%  while there is astronomical increase  in prices of goods.

This, he opined affects the per capital income of an average Nigerian.

Describing the minimum wage as a welcome development, Fasua said “the Naira has fallen and devalued when you look at the prices of commodities they have doubled  there is the need to add to salary for people to be able to survive”.

He called on the leadership of the country to understand the indices that make an economy to work.

 “From the economic point of view, the purchasing power of the  Naira has depreciated looking at it on the comparative level with the dollar”

“Our legal tender is naira and our budget is decimated  in dollars which becomes a challenge for the Naira to perform”, he observed.

This, according to him will deprive the value of the new minimum wage which he described as a motion without movement.

He explained that the  people at the supply end will capitalise on it and increase the prices of commodities while those who are not getting salaries are also expected to align with the minimum wage regulations  which is a  burden for them.

He said :”the high cost of living puts pressure on the income of the private sectors which also are expected to comply with the minimum wage regulation”.

He further noted that when you get an increase in wage, all other household consumptions  like house rent, transportation and many others are also going to be on the high side.