NBS to release two inflation reports in January

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that it will release this month, the December consumer price index and another index that puts rebasing into the context.

Ayo Andrew, head of price statistics at the NBS made this known at the sensitisation workshop on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) rebasing organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and the NBS in Lagos Thursday.

His position stems from the question of whether the Bureau would release December 2024 inflation figures since the agency’s official website is still inaccessible.

“We would have the December CPI released this month and then the rebased CPI by the end of January,” Andrew said during the panel session.

In his presentation, he emphasised that rebasing the CPI does not automatically guarantee an upward or downward trend in inflationary pressures, stating that it was necessary to capture the current realities and broaden the index basket.

He also revealed that the rebasing will mean some other components be added to the CPI to allow for structural changes in the economy.

“Apart from our normal headline inflation, core inflation, food inflation; the basics, we are going to include in the new CPI rebased that will be released this January another index that has never been released before.

“Number one is the services index. At what rate are the prices of services in Nigeria increasing? People want to know about (those figures) in education and transport.
“NBS will bring that on board by the end of this month. Also energy index, at what rate is price fluctuating in this sector?

“Farm produce index, what is the rate of price volatility of these products, and at what rate are prices of items in this sector moving? So these are the special indices that we are going to release at the end of this month.”

Reacting to a question on how the rebasing process will influence monetary policymakers’ decisions moving forward, Andrew said since the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary stance is to tame inflation and ensure price stability, “the rebased CPI will inform monetary authorities on how to target inflation”.

The NBS had in October announced plans to rebase the GDP and CPI to reflect current realities and account for structural changes in the economy.

It noted that the base year adopted for the GDP was 2019 while 2024 was used for the CPI.