Inflation increased at a slower pace in the first month of the year, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the inflation rate, grew at 15.60 percent (year-on-year) in January, 0.87 percent points below the 16.47 percent filed in the same month of 2021 and 0.3 percent point lower than the 15.63 percent point recorded in the preceding month.
On a monthly basis, the headline index increased to 1.47 percent in the month under review, this is 0.34 percent points lower than the 1.82 percent recorded in December 2021.
The Food sub-index also rose at a slower pace of 1.62 percent in January 2022, a decline of 0.57 percent points from 2.19 percent achieved in December when prices of food items were normally high due to the holiday rush.
The more stable 12 months gauge showed the food sub-index average 20.09 percent in January over the previous 12 months, representing 0.31 percent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in December 2021 (20.40) percent.
Prices of goods and services remained largely high in Nigeria despite the noticeable decline in headline inflation. The inflation rate is well above the Central Bank of Nigeria’s single-digit target and continues to hurt households’ earnings, economic activity, new job creation and many more.
The central bank had left the interest rate unchanged at the last monetary policy committee to further improve credit facilities to the private sector and support individuals looking to create jobs. Still, economic headwinds and bottlenecks like rising duty fees, forex challenges, etc remained the bane of Nigeria’s growth.