The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele has acknowledged that Nigerian households spend as much as 120 per cent of their income on food amid soaring prices.

Oyedele made the disclosure recently while speaking at Chatham House in London.

He said: “In fact, there was a survey we did that shows that up to 120 per cent of household income is spent on food. You borrow food before the end of the month.

“That tells you something. As a policymaker, you don’t sit back and say we don’t have unemployment. You have working poor.

“Headline inflation is falling faster than the price of a basket of tomatoes, gari, and beans. And this widens inequality.

“Macroeconomic stability means little to a mother who still cannot afford food.”