Nigeria’s Consumer Inflation Rate Falls To 8.4 percent

Nigeria’s consumer inflation rate fell to to a five-year low of 8.4 percent year-on-year in June, from 9 percent the previous month.

The latest figures which represent a 60 basis points decrease from May were released today by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Analysts had forecast the exact percentage drop in consumer price index ahead of the NBS release date.
Food inflation was up slightly to 9.6 percent, from 9.3 percent.
“Food prices increased at a faster rate compared to May as the country is deep into the planting season,” it added. “Food supplies continue to be tight as inventories decline, creating upward pressure on prices.”
The rate, the lowest since the 8.1 percent recorded in April 2008, was comfortably within the central bank’s single-digit inflation target.
The largest contributors to the increase in the food index were meats, oils and fats, potatoes, yam and other tuber classes.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) monetary policy committee will meet on Monday and Tuesday, next week, to decide on the base interest rate, which has been kept at 12 percent for the past 10 meetings.
Despite the fall in inflation this year, CBN Govenor, Lamido Sanusi has resisted calls to cut interest rates to improve lending to businesses, arguing that the current hard-won economic stability cannot be taken for granted.
Most analysts expect rates to be held steady again next week.