Weak Naira, rising food prices drag Nigeria’s inflation rate for April to 16.82%

Inflation in April 2022 increased to an 8-month high of 16.82 per cent amid rising food prices and weak Naira which has made the cost of importation very expensive.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated this in its latest ‘Consumer Price Index April 2022’ report which measures the rate of increase in the price of goods and services

According to the NBS report, the latest inflation figure is an increase from 15.92 per cent recorded in March.

NBS also stated that April 2022 inflation rate is 1.3 per cent points lower compared to the rate recorded in April 2021 (18.12) per cent.

This means that the headline inflation rate slowed down in April when compared to the same month in the previous year.

Further details from the report show the composite food index rose to 18.37 per cent in April 2022 compared to 22.72 per cent in April 2021.

This rise in the food index, according to the bureau, was caused by increases in the prices of bread and cereals; food products—- potatoes, yam and other tubers; wine, fish, meat, and oils.

Read also: Bureau de Change operators kick off campaign to save Naira, despite logjam with CBN

On a month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased to 2.00 per cent in April 2022, up by 0.01 per cent points from 1.99 per cent recorded in March 2022.

The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the 12-month period ending April 2022 over the previous 12-month average is 18.88 per cent, 0.34 per cent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in March 2022 (19.21) per cent.

Other parts of the report reads, ”The urban inflation rate increased to 17.35 per cent (year-on-year) in April 2022 from 18.68 per cent recorded in April 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased to 16.32 per cent in April 2022 from 17.57 per cent in April 2021.”

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