Nigeria’s Inflation Declines to 17.78%

• Nigeria’s Inflation Declines to 17.78%

The cost of goods and services in Nigeria improved for the first time in over a year following a series of policy implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria to manage consumer prices and moderate foreign exchange.

The consumer price index which measures inflation rate rose 17.78 percent, year-on-year, in February. This was 0.94 percent lower than 18.72 percent recorded in January, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Tuesday.

However, on a monthly basis, the cost of goods and services surged by 1.49 percent in February, which was 0.48 percent more than 1.01 percent increase recorded in January.

Accordingly, price increases were recorded across all COICOP divisions but the major division responsible for accelerating the rate of increase were water, housing, electricity, gas and other fuel, education, food and alcoholic beverages, clothing and footwear and transportation services.

The improvement recorded so far can be attributed to the CBN efforts at combatting speculators by increasing forex supply while sustaining gradual surge in foreign reserves.

Also, the reduced pace of increase is in line with Investors King Ltd projection that surge in global oil prices would buttress CBN efforts and reinforce the attractiveness of Nigerian market as an investment destination. Therefore, further adjustment is expected as long as the current level of oil production is sustained, while both the gross domestic product and unemployment rate are projected to improve henceforth.