Inflation rate hits six-year high- Bureau of Statistics

The National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday that Nigeria’s inflation rate hit a six-year high in April, reaching 13%. The rates were put at 12.8% in March.

The bureau noted that the sharp decline was due mainly to rising petrol and electricity prices.

Nigeria had seen its economy grind painfully to a major crisis as oil, which is the main stay of its revenue, experienced the biggest fall in decades. Its currency, the Naira, has taken a battering against major currencies while Gross Domestic Product growth was reported at just 2.8% in 2015, its lowest rate in decades.

The April report which was captured on the bureau’s website also noted that food prices, which account for the bulk of the inflation basket, rose 13.2% in, up 0.4% points from March.

Inflation has also been fuelled by pressure on the naira, which on Monday slipped to its weakest level in months against the dollar in the non-deliverable forward market.

There have been strong speculations that the central bank (CBN) might devalue the Naira which had come under heavy pressure since the office of the vice president last week advised petroleum marketers to shop for forex in the parallel market.

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