• FCCPC keeps mum despite consumer complaints • LCCI blames input costs on inflation, forex While costs of input appear a good alibi for cement manufacturers and dealers to justify high costs of the commodity, regulatory lapses in checking price gouging in the value chain, costly logistics driven by inflation and cyclic demand for real estate, fuelled by currency weakness and low yields from financial instruments are factors aggravating cement prices nationwide. x
Although the demand for residential properties, particularly from the low-and-middle-income earners, is expected to remain weak due to rising inflation, according to a recent CBN survey, many investors continue to push funds to real estate businesses to hide unexplained wealth and conserve value for the local currency.