• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Nigeria’s inflation slows to 6-month low at 11.25% in March

Nigeria inflation (1)

 

Nigeria’s inflation rate has decelerated for the third consecutive month in March 2019 to reach its lowest level in six months, latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have shown.
The CPI, which measures the composite changes in the prices of consumer goods and services purchased by households over a period, slowed by 11.25 percent on year-on-year (yoy) basis in March 2019, representing a 0.06 percentage points drop from 11.31 percent recorded in February 2019.
That was largely driven by the continuous decline in food inflation, which dropped for the fourth straight month to 13.45 percent in March from 13.47 percent in February, even as core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, also declined by 9.5 percent from 9.8 percent.
The drop in the nation’s headline inflation means the prices of consumer goods and services rose at a slower pace in March 2019 compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.
However, on month-on-month (mom) basis, the headline index rebounded, accelerating by 0.79 percent in March 2019 from 0.73 percent recorded in the previous month.
The urban inflation rate rose sluggishly by 11.54 percent yoy in March 2019 from 11.59 percent recorded in February 2019, while the rural inflation rate increased at a slower pace by 10.99 percent in March 2019 from 11.05 percent in February 2019.
But on a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 0.81 percent in the review month, up by 0.05 from 0.76 percent recorded in February 2019, while the rural index also rose by 0.77 percent from 0.71 percent.
Analysts at FSDH Merchant Bank Limited said a declining inflation rate is a good development for the Nigerian economy, noting that the main factors that would ensure the country’s inflation rate drops to a single digit, which is the target of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), are outside of the control of the apex bank.
“The poor infrastructure in Nigeria, high energy costs, insecurity in some parts of the country and excessive reliance on crude oil as the major source of revenue and foreign exchange earner are the major drivers of inflation in Nigeria,” the FSDH analysts said.
According to the Statistics Bureau, inflation rate was highest in Kebbi at 14.65 percent; Zamfara, 13.15 percent; and Taraba, 12.98 percent in March, while Kwara which stood 9.84 percent; Cross River, 9.66 percent; and Delta, 9.61 percent recorded the slowest rise in headline yoy inflation.

 

OLUWASEGUN OLAKOYENIKAN