Nigeria’s inflation rises for second consecutive month in September

Nigeria’s inflation rate has risen for the second consecutive month in September on continued shortage of food supply in the market, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Showed on Tuesday.

The nation’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation, had rebounded in August for the first time after recording 18 straight months of decline.

The CPI measures the composite changes in the prices of consumer goods and services, such as food, transportation, and medical care, purchased by households, over a period.

In the CPI report released by NBS on Tuesday for September 2018, the headline inflation rose by 11.28 percent year-on-year in September 2018 from 11.23 percent recorded in the previous month.

The statistics bureau said food inflation also increased from 13.16 percent in August to 13.31 percent in September, while core inflation, which excludes agricultural produce, declined from 10 percent in August to 9.80 percent in September.

This implies that the increase in the headline inflation was not unconnected to the increase in the food inflation in the review month.

The Governor of The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, had attributed the increase in headline inflation to shortage of food supply.

“The rise in headline inflation was from food, while core inflation declined, indicating that supply side factors were driving the price increase.

“The near-term upside risks to inflation remained the dissipation of the base effect, expected 2019 election-related spending, continued herdsmen attack on farmers and the current episodes of flooding which has destroyed crops and would affect food supply and prices,” he said.

To address this challenge, Emefiele urged the fiscal authorities to ensure sustained implementation of the 2018 budget to relieve the supply side growth constraints, as well as address the flooding incidence in the country.

Ripples Nigeria reports that the average price paid by consumers of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, for a litre rose from N146.90 in August to N147.30 in September for the first time since the beginning of the year.

This indicates that petrol price hike often experienced across the nation during festive season may have begun, a development which may also result in increase in transport fares and further worsen the inflation trend in coming months.

By Oluwasegun Olakoyenikan….

 

 

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