Nigerians are still unsure whether to expect inflation report or not as the official website of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) remains inaccessible on the eve of the report release.
NBS is the official statistical office of Nigeria. Among others, the office reports on the country’s inflation rate on the 15th of every month and it has never failed in the timely release of the report via its website www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/ in years.
“Hello @NBS_Nigeria? You are playing an important role in Nigeria and you know it . Your website has been down since last year , this is taking so long,” a Nigerian asked on X.
Read also: NBS to release two inflation reports in January
The outcome of the report is expected to shape decisions at a crunch monetary policy meeting late this month, the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) website remains inaccessible.
Data showing price levels in December is due tomorrow, January 15, but as the country’s official data site remains inaccessible, many are wondering whether or not the NBS would break its own tradition of timely releases of critical economic data.
The website which was compromised following a cyberattack on December 18 had the statistics agency warning the public through its official X account to disregard any information on the platform until the situation was resolved.
“My worry, and not just me, but data users all over, both locally and internationally, is that the website is taking too long to come up considering how important it is for a lot of things, including in decision making,” Ade Olayinka, a financial analyst, told BusinessDay.
However Last week Ayo Andrew, head of price statistics at the NBS said that the December inflation will be released this month.
Andrew 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.
“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.
The NBS proposed 2024 as the base year for inflation computation. The year was proposed to capture the structural changes driven by the removal of subsidies on FX and PMS.
The constituents of the inflation basket are also expected to expand from 740 to 960.
Economic analysts argued that the GDP rebasing will yield an exaggerated GDP growth number, and the CPI rebasing will downplay the inflation rate.
Read also: One week to crucial inflation data, NBS website remains down
“The CPI rebasing framework is disingenuous. A price reference base year put at 2024 and a weight reference period put at 2023, two peak periods of the country’s first ever shock therapy reforms will ensure that aggregate price pressures are not adequately accounted for,” Basil Abia, cofounder Veriv Africa, a data insight company said.
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.
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