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Nigeria’s inflation declines for third consecutive month to 17.24%

16 May 2017, 09:29 am
Financial Nigeria
Nigeria’s inflation declines for third consecutive month to 17.24%

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The NBS said food inflation rose to 19.30 per cent in April, as against 18.44 per cent in March.

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The National Bureau of Statistics reported today that the country’s Consumer Price Index declined to 17.24 per cent in April, compared to 17.26 per cent recorded in the previous month.

“This is the third consecutive month of a decline in the headline CPI rate, exhibiting effects of some easing in already high food and non-food prices, as well as favourable base effects over 2016 prices,” the statistics agency said.

In February, Nigeria’s inflation rate ended a 15-month long period of steady increases caused by the country’s economic upheavals. The main inflationary pressures were foreign exchange shortages, the devaluation of the naira, and the increase in fuel prices.

The NBS said food inflation rose to 19.30 per cent in April, as against 18.44 per cent in March. The rise in the index was caused by increases in prices of bread, cereals, meat, fish, potatoes, yams and other tubers, coffee, tea and cocoa, milk cheese and eggs and oils and fats.

Core inflation – which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce – eased to 14.80 per cent in April as against 15.40 per cent recorded in March. The highest increases were recorded in solid fuel, liquid fuel, clothing materials and other articles of clothing, lubricants for personal transport equipment, audio-visual, photographic and information processing equipment, wines and spirits.

The urban index declined to 17.62 per cent in April compared to 18.27 per cent recorded in March, while the rural index increased to 16.69 per cent in April from 16.47 per cent in the previous month.


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