From Kenneth Udeh, Abuja
Admid the skyrocketing prices of food and goods, a bill aimed at reducing inflation rate to not more than 18.60 per cent by the end of 2026 has passed first reading at the Senate.
The bill was sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru.
According to the bill’s explanatory memorandum, it is proposed that inflation rate can be reduced through the raising of a minimum of $30 billion over a period of 24 months in the proportion of 70 per cent foreign currency and 30 per cent in local currency.
More details of the Lagos East lawmaker’s bill stated that provisions would be made for the proceeds to be primarily used to clear the outstanding ways and means of N30 trillion in the records of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
This will have the effect of positioning the Central Bank of Nigeria to discharge its mandate of maintaining price stability more effectively as well as ushering in economic conditions necessary for the implementation of the government’s eight-point agenda consistent with the National Development Plan.
Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, introduced the bill while the Clerk, Chinedu Akubueze, read its short title.
The bill subsequently passed first reading after it was adopted by the senators after it was put to a voice vote presided by the Senate President Godswill Akpabio.