Nigeria’s Latest Inflation Figures Are Out And The Numbers Are Quite Interesting

The inflation rate in Nigeria decreased to 11.08 percent year-on-year in July 2019, and that’s according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The NBS stated this in its CPI and Inflation Report July 2019, released in Abuja on Friday, August 16th.

The new inflation figure is 0.14 percent points lower than the rate recorded in June 2019 (11.22 percent) as increases were recorded in all individual consumption by purpose that yielded the Headline Index.

On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 1.01 percent in July 2019. This is 0.06 percent rate lower than the rate recorded in June 2019 (1.07 percent).

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months ending July 2019 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 11.29 percent, comparable to the 11.29 percent recorded in June 2019.

The data from the NBS also have it that the composite food index rose by 13.39 percent in July 2019 compared to 13.56 percent in June 2019. Furthermore, the rural inflation rate increased by 10.64 percent in July 2019 from 10.87 percent in June 2019, while the urban inflation rate increased by 11.43 percent (year-on-year) in July 2019 from 11.61 percent recorded in June 2019.

Going by a year-on-year consideration, Cross River (8.87 percent), Delta (8.76 percent) and Kwara (7.93 percent) recorded the slowest rise in headline inflation, while Kebbi (15.41 percent), Kano (13.47 percent) and Zamfara (13.13 percent) recorded the highest inflation in July 2019.

On a month-on-month basis, Yobe (2.06 percent), Kano (2.04 percent) and Taraba (1.84 percent) recorded the highest inflation while Akwa Ibom (0.19 percent) recorded the slowest rise with Bauchi and Ondo going one better by recording price deflation.

As part of its post-election strategies, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, had said the country’s apex bank will continue to tighten economic policy due to the inflation outlook.

The CBN had projected the Nigerian economy to grow by 3 percent in 2019, higher than the 1.93 percent recorded in 2018. It also predicted inflation rising to 12 percent this year before moderating, and considering the latest inflation numbers from the NBS, things are looking pretty good.

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