Yemisi Izuora
Nigeria’s annual inflation rate climbed for the first time in three months in September, stoked by a spike in gasoline prices and severe floods in food-producing areas.
Consumer prices rose 32.7 per cent from 32.2 per cent in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement published on its website on Tuesday. Exceeding the median estimate of nine economists in a Bloomberg survey of 32.4 per cent.
Haulage and passenger fares surged in early September after gasoline prices were increased 45 per cent.
Floods in the north led to a jump in corn, yam and cassava tuber prices after crops that the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates would have fed 8.5 million people for six months were destroyed.
Food inflation quickened to 37.8 per cent in September from 37.5% a month earlier. Core price growth, which excludes agricultural produce and energy, slowed to 27.4 per cent from 27.6 per cent.
The Central Bank of Nigeria lifted its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points last month to 27.25 per cent, in a preemptive move to tame the impact of the price pressures on inflation and may hike again when the monetary policy committee meets Nov. 25-26.
“Nigeria’s inflation will likely quicken for another couple of months, after a higher-than-expected increase in September. After that, we expect policy tightening to return it on a downward trajectory. We now expect annual inflation to remain above 30% through at least early 2025. Policymakers will likely try to tamp down prices with rate hikes over the next two quarters, halting when positive real rates are restored.”Bloomberg Economics Says.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso said at last month’s meeting that “efforts must be sustained” to achieve a positive inflation-adjusted interest rate to attract investment into the economy which would help support the naira.