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Nigeria’s inflation rises for second consecutive month to 11.61 per cent

18 Nov 2019, 09:50 am
Financial Nigeria
Nigeria’s inflation rises for second consecutive month to 11.61 per cent

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Food inflation rose to 14.09 per cent in October 2019, compared to 13.51 per cent reported in September.

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The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported today that Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 11.61 per cent year-on-year in October 2019. This represents an increase of 0.36 percentage point compared to 11.24 per cent recorded in September. It is also the second consecutive monthly rise in the CPI, which measures inflation.

The headline inflation had been on a steady decline for three consecutive months between June and August when the inflation figure reached 11.02 per cent, before edging up to 11.24 per cent in September. On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation increased by 1.07 per cent in October 2019, or 0.03 percentage point higher than the rate recorded in the previous month. The NBS said in October 2019, all major indices increased.

Food inflation, according to the NBS, rose to 14.09 per cent last month, compared to 13.51 per cent reported in the previous month. This rise in the food inflation was caused by increases in prices of meat, oils and fats, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, as well as fish and vegetables.

In September, the NBS had said there was not enough time in the month of August for any significant impact to be felt either way on prices following the Nigerian border closures, which had taken effect on 20 August, 2019. The directive on the border closure has since been extended till January 2020.

In the review period, urban inflation stood at 12.20 per cent, rising from 11.78 per cent recorded in September, while the rural inflation rate rose from 10.77 per cent in September to 11.07 per cent in October.

Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 8.88 per cent last month, moderating by 0.07 percentage point when compared to the preceding review period.


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