Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire has disclosed that the federal
government is worried about the increased prices of face masks and
sanitizers in the country.
Ehanire who talked about the federal government’s response to the
coronavirus plague ravaging some countries around the world in an
interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, said they can’t regulate the prices of face masks and sanitizers because Nigeria operates a market autonomy.
He said;
“The government is concerned about prices going up. But you see, we
operate a market autonomy. Those who are traders and suppliers are doing
a brisk business by trying to increase importation and those who
manufacture are also doing a brisk business scaling up the manufacturing
of all these products.“So it is not surprising that the prices go up at the moment. The
government makes sure that those agencies and organisations that need to
have these materials have them.”
The Minister also expressed hope of the health kits dropping when its vendors import more of it.