The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures the inflation rate has risen to 22.41 percent in May 2023, against the 22.22 percent recorded in April 2023.
NBS in its latest report said, food and non-alcoholic beverages were the biggest drivers of inflation.
It said, Food Inflation was 24.82% in May 2023 from 24.61% in April 2023, just as it said, urban Inflation was 23.74%, and rural Inflation was 21.19%.
The bureau said, looking at the movement, the May 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.19% points when compared to April 2023 headline inflation rate.
It said, “Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 4.70% points higher compared to the rate recorded in May 2022, which was (17.71%).
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in May 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., May 2022)’, the bureau said.
Recall, in a bid to bring to heel the rising inflation rate in Nigeria, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its last meeting, voted to raise the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points (18.5%) from the previous rate of 18.0 percent held in March 2023.
The MPC observed the continued upward risk to price development driven primarily by expectations of rising energy and food prices; unabating security challenges in food-producing areas; as well as persisting exchange rate pressure.
With the current rate, more tightening would be required to keep it in check.
