The World Bank has said an additional six million Nigerians will be forced into poverty due to the continuous increase in the prices of goods and services..

The Bank said this in a new report titled ‘COVID-19 in Nigeria: Frontline Data and Pathways for Policy.’

Nigeria has been experiencing continuous price increases in the major cities across the country due to insurgencies and banditry especially in the Northern part, where most of the essential food items for the nation come from, have also adversely contributed to the ill reports about the astronomic rise for a range of food materials.

The World Bank in its report said that the rise in prices underscores the need for short-term policies to support welfare.

The report reads, “The rise in prices witnessed between June 2020 and June 2021 alone could push another six million Nigerians into poverty, with urban areas being disproportionately affected. This underscores the need for short-term policies to support welfare.

“The simple simulations suggest that the share of Nigerians living below the national poverty line could have increased from 40.1 per cent to 42.8 per cent, due to the food price inflation witnessed between June 2020 and June 2021.”

The report further disclosed that there has been low coverage of social protection programmes during the COVID-19 crisis in Nigeria.

For instance, it added that only just four per cent of households had received support from social safety net programs in the form of direct cash transfers from federal, state, or local government between March 2020 and March 2021.