At 15.92%, Nigeria’s inflation rises to six months high

Nigeria’s inflation rate has hit six months high, as the consumer price index, which measures the rate of increase in the price of goods and services, reached 15.92 per cent in March 2022, amid rising food prices.

The figure is the highest rate recorded since October 2021. It is 0.22 per cent points higher than the 15.7 per cent recorded in previous month, February 2022.

This was contained in the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for February 2022, released on Friday.

According to the report, the core inflation rate dropped to 13.91 per cent in March from 14.01 per cent recorded in February 2022. The rise in the core index was attributed to the increase in the prices of gas, garments, cleaning, repair and hire of clothing, shoes and other footwear.

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Other items, which recorded significant price increases, include clothing materials, other articles of clothing and clothing accessories, liquid fuel, fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment and other services in respect of personal transport equipment.

This is even as food inflation rose to 17.2 per cent in the month under review, an uptick compared to the 17.11 per cent recorded in the preceding month. 

The rise in the food index was blamed on increases in prices of bread and cereals, food products, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, meat, oils and fats.