The Federal government has served the notice that no fewer than 11 million Nigerians may fall into poverty by the end of 2022, as a consequence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation’s economy.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, served the notice Tuesday, which was day two of the National COVID-19 Summit organised to bring all stakeholders together to discuss the Theme: “Pushing Through the Last Mile to End the Pandemic and Build Back Better”.
The minister who was represented by the Director-General of Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze, explained that before the pandemic, about two million Nigerians were expected to fall into poverty by 2020 as population growth outpaced economic growth.
According to her, the outbreak of COVID-19 caused a recession that pushed an additional 6.6 million Nigerians into poverty in 2020, bringing the total newly poor to 8.6 million in the same year.
“This implies an increase in the total number of poor in Nigeria from about 90 million in 2020 to about 109 million in 2022,” she said.
Ahmed further listed vulnerable employment; receiving fewer remittances and being close to the poverty line as being responsible for the increase in poverty.