Rising food prices keep inflation at 11-year high

Increase in the prices of food items has maintained Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the rate of inflation in an economy, at an 11-year high.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) inflation report for December 2016, which was released on Friday, inflation rose marginally from 18.48 percent in November to 18.55 percent in December.

This shows that Nigeria’s inflation rate rose for every single month in 2016.

Inflation rate moved from 9.55 percent in December 2015 to 18.55 by December 2016, defying predictions that put 2016 year-end inflation at 12 percent.

The IMF on Thursday said inflation in Nigeria was mainly driven by challenges surrounding the country’s exchange rate regime.

The highest increases in price were recorded in bread, cereals, fish, meat, oil and fat.

“The Composite Food Index rose by 17.39 percent in December 2016. The rise in the index was caused by increases in prices of Meat, Bread and cereals, Oil and Fats, Fish, vegetables, milk and cheese and eggs, fruits and Potatoes, yam and other tubers,” the NBS report read.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Food sub-index increased by 1.33 percent in December from the 0.88 percent recorded in November.”

Asides food product, “the highest increases were seen in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, Clothing and Footwear and Education, growing at 27.27, 21.62 and 17.84 percent respectively”.