By Sunday Etuka, Abuja
Inflation maintains an upward trajectory in Nigeria, with the April rate hitting 33.69 percent, relative to the 33.20 percent rate recorded in March 2024.
This was contained in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.
NBS noted that the April 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.49% points when compared to the March 2024 headline inflation rate, defying the tightening measures of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The apex bank in January set an ambitious target of reducing the inflation rate to about 21 percent, while also working to strengthen the naira.
With the current rate hitting the roof top, CBN faces pressure to raise the interest rates at its MPC meeting next week.
According to the NBS report, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.47% points higher compared to the rate recorded in April 2023, which was 22.22%. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in the month of April 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., April 2023).
Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in April 2024 was 2.29%, which was 0.73% lower than the rate recorded in March 2024 (3.02%). This means that in the month of April 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is less than the rate of increase in the average price level in March 2024.
The report disclosed that the Food inflation rate in April 2024 was 40.53% on a year-on-year basis, which was 15.92% points higher compared to the rate recorded in April 2023 (24.61%).
NBS said, the rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of the following items: Millet flour, Garri, Bread, Wheat Flour prepacked, Semovita (which are under Bread and Cereals Class), Yam Tuber, Water Yam, cocoyam (under Potatoes, Yam and other Tubers Class), Coconut Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Vegetable Oil, etc (under Oil and fat), Dried Fish Sadine, Catfish Dried, Mudfish Dried (under Fish class), Beef Head, Beef Feet, Liver, Frozen Chicken (under Meat class), Mongo, Banana, Grapefruit (under Fruit Class), Lipton Tea, Bournvita, Milo (under Coffee, Tea and Cocoa Class).
However, on a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in April 2024 was 2.50% which shows a 1.11% decrease compared to the rate recorded in March 2024 (3.62%).
The Bureau explained that the fall in Food inflation on a Month-on-Month basis was caused by a fall in the rate of increase in the average prices of Yam, Water Yam, Irish Potatoes (under Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Beer, Local Beer (under Tobacco Class), Milo, Bournvita, Nescafe (under Coffee, Tea, and Coco Class), Groundnut Oil, Palm Oil (under Oil and Fats Class), Egg, Fresh Milk, Powered Milk, Tin Milk (under Milk, Cheese, and Eggs Class), Soft Drinks e.g. Malt Guinness, Coco-cola, etc, Spirit (Local Production), Chelsea, Seaman Schnapps (under Spirit Class), Wine and Fruit e.g., Water Melon, Pineapple, Banana, Pawpaw, etc.
It noted that the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve-month ending April 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 32.74%, which was 9.52% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in April 2023 (23.22%).
