Finance Minister States Reason For Rising Cost Of Rice

Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has stated that smuggling is responsible for the rising cost of rice in the country.

Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed is a Nigerian accountant who has been serving as Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning since 2019. At the time, President Muhammadu Buhari brought the two ministries under her as one, making her the de facto Minister of Economy.

She stated this while speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.

The Minister said smuggling is affecting the market and hurting the citizens.

“Unfortunately there is a lot of distortion and the distortion is arising from smuggling of goods into the country,” the Minister said.

“We have unpatriotic Nigerians that will bring rice that is poor quality, some of it not even fit for human consumption and come and dump it in the market.”