NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA

Nigeria’s inflation rate declines to 24.48% in January- NBS

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By Okeoghene Akubuike

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says  Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined to 24.48 per cent in January 2025.

This is contained in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rebased results released in Abuja on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the headline inflation rate for December 2024 was 34.80 per cent.

The Statistician-General (S-G) of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran, made the announcement at a news briefing on the CPI Rebased Results.

The CPI is a key macroeconomic indicator that reflects the movement of aggregate price levels in a country and is expected to be rebased every five years.

However,  in Nigeria, the last CPI rebasing was conducted in 2009.

Adeniran emphasised the importance of rebasing the CPI regularly due to changes in consumption patterns over time, which necessitated an update of the items in the CPI basket.

He said the rebasing was designed to ensure that Nigeria’s economic indicators accurately reflect the current structure of the economy, incorporating new and emerging sectors, updating consumption baskets, and refining data collection methods.

Adeniran said part of the process of rebasing the CPI  included bringing the base year closer to the current period, from 2009 to 2024.

The S-G gave a breakdown of the rebased CPI as follows.

The All-Items Index, which is used to measure headline inflation for January 2025, was 110.7, resulting in a headline inflation rate of 24.48 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

He said the increase was mainly driven by Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages, Restaurants and Accommodation Services and Transport.

The  Food Index for January 2025 was 110.03, which resulted in a food inflation rate of 26.08 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

Core Index, which is All-Items less farm produce and energy for January 2025, was 110.7,  which gave rise to a core Inflation rate of 22.59 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

The urban inflation rate for January 2025 was 26.09 per cent, while the rural inflation rate was 22.15 per cent.

Adeniran clarified that the CPI results do not indicate a reduction in the prices of goods and services in the market but rather measure the rate at which those prices were decreasing.

“The policies of the government targeted to reduce inflation rate are still there. The government is committed to ensuring food is available to the populace and the purchasing power of citizens is enhanced.

“So, the result is  not saying prices of goods and services have come down in the market but the rate of change between January 2024  and January 2025 is what inflation rate is all about.”

He assured Nigerians that the results of the rebasing reflected the current inflationary pressures and recent household consumption patterns in the country.

The S-G  listed some CPI improvements and introduction to the methodology to include  the transition to the latest version of the classification method.

He said the Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) 2018 version was used, departing from the 1999 version of COICOP.

According to him, the new version has 13 divisions, as against 12,  bringing in household expenditure on Insurance and Financial Services, which now has a weight of 0.5 per cent relative to the total household expenditure.

Adeniran said another improvement was the exclusion of own-production, imputed rents, and gifted items from the aggregates used to come up with the weights.

“This is because CPI is a monetary phenomenon, hence the computations should only include monetary expenditure.

“Also implemented under this rebasing is the movement of expenditures on meals away from home to the appropriate divisional class.

“These changes are quite significant and appropriately align expenditures to their respective classes, enabling price changes to be measured properly.” (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ese E. Eniola Williams

CBN’s policy interventions have moderated inflationary growth, says  Cardoso

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By Kadiri Abdulrahman

The Central Bank of Nigeria has said that without its policy interventions, inflation could have risen to 42.81 per cent in December 2024.

The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, made this known at the 2025 Monetary Policy Forum of the apex bank on Thursday in Abuja.

The forum attracted ministers, heads of departments and agencies involved in economic matters, as well as private sector players.

Cardoso also projected that diaspora remittances would increase to N31.787 trillion when the fourth quarter 2024 figures are released.

He said that the CBN would continue to employ orthodox monetary policy measures to tackle inflation in 2025.

“Counterfactual estimates suggest that without these decisive policy interventions, inflation could have reached 42.81 percent by Dec., 2024.

“Throughout 2024, the CBN implemented several bold policy measures across six MPC meetings

“These include raising the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by a cumulative 875 basis points to 27.50 per cent.

“They also include increasing the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of Other Depository Corporations (ODCs) by 1750 basis points to 50 per cent, and adjusting the asymmetric corridor around the MPR,” he said.

He said that the CBN also undertook critical reforms to strengthen the financial system and ensure macroeconomic stability through a unified exchange rate window to enhance efficiency in the FX market.

According to Cardoso, this reform yielded tangible results, with remittances through International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) rising 79.4 per cent in the first three quarters of 2024 to 4.18 billion dollars.

He compared the figure to 2.33 billion dollars generated in the same period of 2023.

He said that the CBN also cleared a backlog of foreign exchange commitments totaling seven billion dollars, restoring market confidence and improving FX liquidity.

“We lifted restrictions on 41 items previously banned from access to the official FX market, a measure introduced in 2015.

“We also introduced new minimum capital requirements for banks, effective by March 2026.

“This is to strengthen the resilience and global competitiveness of Nigeria’s banking sector, positioning it to support the ambition of a one trillion-dollar economy,” Cardoso said.

He listed other policy interventions to include the launch of the WIFI initiative under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy.

He said that the initiative was designed to bridge the gender gap in financial access, empowering women through financial services, education, and digital tools.

“There is also the recently launched Nigeria Foreign Exchange Code, marking a decisive step forward for integrity, fairness, transparency and efficiency in our FX market.

“Built on six core principles, the FX code represents a binding commitment from the financial community to rebuild trust and inspire confidence.

“These reforms reflect our commitment to creating an enabling environment for inclusive economic development,” he said.

He, however, said that achieving macroeconomic stability required sustained vigilance and a proactive monetary policy stance..

To tackle inflation in 20205, Cardoso said that ‘managing disinflation amidst persistent shocks required robust policies and also coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities.

He said that such coordination would help to anchor expectations and maintain investor confidence.

“Our focus must remain on price stability, the planned transition to an inflation-targeting framework, and strategies to restore purchasing power and ease economic hardship.

“As we move forward into 2025, I am optimistic that we have turned a corner and that disinflation is within reach.

“However, we must remain committed to bold, coordinated policy measures to consolidate our progress,” he said.

Earlier, Mohammed Abdullahi, Deputy Governor Economic Policy of the CBN, said that the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market was a pivotal step towards unifying a highly fragmented system.

Abdullahi said that the step also helped in reducing substantial premiums driven by speculative activities and market inefficiencies.

“Prior to the adoption of a flexible exchange rate regime, the average exchange rate premium stood at an alarming 62.33 per cent between January and May 2023.

“Wth the introduction of the flexible exchange rate regime, this premium was drastically reduced to an all-time low of 0.10 per cent by June 2023, signalling significant progress towards market convergence,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza

Nigeria’s inflation rose to 33.88% in October- NBS

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By Okeoghene Oghenekaro

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 33.88  per cent in October 2024.

The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for October 2024, which was released in Abuja on Friday.

According to the report, the figure is 1.18 per cent points higher compared to the 32.70  per cent recorded in September 2024.

It said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in October  2024 was 6.55 per cent higher than the rate recorded in October 2023 at 27.33 per cent.

In addition, the report said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in October 2024 was 2.64  per cent, which was 0.12 per cent higher than the rate recorded in September 2024 at 2.52 per cent.

“This means that in October 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in September 2024”.

The report said the increase in the headline index for October 2024 on a year-on-year and month-on-month basis was attributed to the increase in some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level.

It said these increases were observed in food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel, clothing and footwear, transport and furnishings, household equipment and maintenance.

Others include education, health, and miscellaneous goods and services,  restaurants and hotels, alcoholic beverages, tobacco and kola,  recreation and culture, and communication.

It said the percentage change in the average CPI for the 12 months ending October 2024 over the average CPI for the previous 12 months was 32.26  per cent.

“This indicates an 8.82  per cent increase compared to 23.44 per cent recorded in October 2023”.

The report said the food inflation rate in October 2024 increased to  39.16 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 7.64  per cent higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2023 at 31.52 per cent.

“The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis is caused by increases in prices of guinea corn, rice, maize grains, beans, yam, water yam, and Cocoyam.

“Others are palm oil, vegetable oil, Lipton, Milo, and Bournvita, among others”.

It said on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in October was 2.94  per cent, which was a 0.30 per cent increase compared to the rate recorded in September 2024 at  2.64  per cent.

“The increase in food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by an increase in the average prices of palm oil, vegetable oil, mudfish, croaker,  fresh fish, dried beef, goat meat, mutton, and skin meat.

“Others are bread, guinea corn flour, plantain flour, rice, among others”.

The report said that “all items less farm produce and energy’’ or core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 28.37  per cent in October on a year-on-year basis.

“This increased by 5.79 per cent compared to 22.58  per cent recorded in October 2023.

“The exclusion of the PMS is due to the deregulation of the commodity by removal of subsidy.”

It said the highest increases were recorded in prices of bus Journey within the city, Journey by motorcycle, and bus journey intercity among others.

“Others are rents, meal at a local Restaurant, hair cut service, woman hair brush, women’s hairdressing, among others”.

The NBS said on a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 2.14 per cent in October 2024.

“This indicates a 0.04  per cent increase compared to what was recorded in September 2024 at 2.10  per cent.

“The average 12-month annual inflation rate was 26.12 per cent for the 12 months ending October 2024; this was 6.14 per cent points higher than the 19.98  per cent recorded in October 2023”.

The report said on a year-on-year basis in October 2024, the urban inflation rate was 36.38  per cent, which was 7.09 per cent higher compared to the 29.29 per cent recorded in October 2023.

“On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.75 per cent, which increased by 0.08 per cent compared to September 2024 at 2.67 per cent”.

The report said on a year-on-year basis in October, the rural inflation rate was 31.59 per cent, which was 6.01 per cent higher compared to the 25.58 per cent recorded in October 2023.

“On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 2.53 per cent, which increased by 0.14 per cent compared to September 2024 at 2.39 per cent.’’

On states’ profile analysis, the report showed that in October, all items’ inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Bauchi at 46.68 per cent, followed by Kebbi at 40.02per cent, and Sokoto at 39.65 per cent.

It, however, said the slowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Delta at 27.85 per cent, followed by Benue at 28.22 per cent, and Katsina at 29.59 per cent.

The report, however, said in October 2024, all items inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was highest in Kano at 3.77 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 3.74 per cent, and Anambra at 3.59 per cent.

“Kwara at 1.27 per cent, followed by Ondo  at 1.49 per cent and Lagos at 1.91 per cent recorded the slowest rise in month-on-month inflation”.

The report said on a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Sokoto at 52.18 per cent, followed by Edo at 46.55 per cent, and Borno at 45.85 per cent.

“Kwara at 31.68 per cent, followed by Kogi at 33.30  per cent and Rivers at 33.87  per cent recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis”.

The report, however, said on a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Adamawa at 5.08 per cent, followed by Sokoto at 4.86 per cent, and Yobe at 4.34 per cent.

“Kwara at 1.11 per cent, followed by Ondo at 1.31 per cent and Kogi at 1.50 per cent, recorded the slowest rise in inflation on a month-on-month basis”. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 32.70% in September -NBS

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By Okeoghene Oghenekaro

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 32.70 per cent in September 2024.

The Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran, revealed this in a statement issued on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for September 2024 in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to the report, the figure is 0.55 per cent points higher compared to the 32.15 per cent recorded in August 2024.

It said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 5.98 per cent higher than the rate recorded in September 2023 at 26.72 per cent.

The report said the increase in the headline index for September 2024 on a year-on-year basis was attributed to the increase in some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level.

It said these increases were observed in food and non-alcoholic beverages (16.94 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel (5.47 per cent), clothing and footwear (2.50 per cent), and transport (2.13 per cent).

“Others were furnishings, household equipment and maintenance (1.64 per cent) education (1.29 per cent), health (0.98 per cent), and miscellaneous goods and services (0.54 per cent).

“Others include restaurants and hotels (0.40 per cent), alcoholic beverages, tobacco and kola (0.36 per cent), recreation and culture, and communication (0.22 per cent).”

In addition, the report said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.52 per cent, which was 0.30 per cent higher than the rate recorded in August 2024 at 2.22 per cent.

It said the percentage change in the average CPI for the 12 months ending September 2024 over the average CPI for the previous 12 months was 31.73 per cent.

“This indicates an 8.83 per cent increase compared to 22.90 per cent recorded in September 2023.”

The report said the food inflation rate in September 2024 increased to 37.77 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 7.13 per cent higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2023 at 30.64 per cent.

“The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis is caused by increases in prices of guinea corn, rice, maize grains, beans, yam, water yam, and cassava tuber.

“Others are beer (Local and Foreign), Lipton, Milo, Bournvita, vegetable oil, palm oil, among others.”

It said on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in September was 2.64 per cent, which was a 0.27 per cent increase compared to the rate recorded in August 2024 at 2.37 per cent.

“The increase in food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by an increase in the average prices of Beer (Local and Foreign), tobacco class, vegetable oil, groundnut oil, and palm oil.

“Others are beef, gizzard, dried beef, Lipton, Milo, Bournvita, milk, and egg, among others.”

The report said that “all items less farm produce and energy’’ or core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 27.43 per cent in September on a year-on-year basis.

“This increased by 5.59 per cent compared to 21.84 per cent recorded in September 2023.

“The exclusion of the PMS is due to the deregulation of the commodity by removal of subsidy.”

It said the highest increases were recorded in prices of rents, bus Journey intercity, and Journey by motorcycle, among others.

“Others are accommodation service, laboratory service, x-ray photog­raphy, consultation fee of a medical doctor, among others.”

The NBS said on a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 2.10 per cent in September 2024.

“This indicates a 0.17 per cent decrease compared to what was recorded in August 2024 at 2.27 per cent.

“The average 12-month annual inflation rate was 25.64 per cent for the 12 months ending September 2024; this was 6.09 per cent points higher than the 19.55 per cent recorded in September 2023.”

The report said on a year-on-year basis in September 2024, the urban inflation rate was 35.13 per cent, which was 6.46 per cent higher compared to the 28.68 per cent recorded in September 2023.

“On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.67 per cent, which increased by 0.28 per cent compared to August 2024 at 2.39 per cent.’’

The report said on a year-on-year basis in September, the rural inflation rate was 30.49 per cent, which was 5.55 per cent higher compared to the 24.94 per cent recorded in September 2023.

“On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 2.39 per cent, which increased by 0.33 per cent compared to August 2024 at 2.06 per cent.’’

On states’ profile analysis, the report showed that in September, all items’ inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Bauchi at 44.83 per cent, followed by Sokoto at 38.74 per cent, and Jigawa at 38.39 per cent.

It, however, said the slowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Delta at 26.35 per cent, followed by Benue at 26.90 per cent, and Katsina at 27.71 per cent.

The report, however, said in September 2024, all items inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was highest in Sokoto 4.63 per cent, followed by Taraba at 4.07 per cent, and Anambra at 3.74 per cent.

“Kwara at 1.14 per cent, followed by Cross River at 1.78 per cent and Lagos at 1.82 per cent recorded the slowest rise in month-on-month inflation.”

The report said on a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Sokoto at 50.47 per cent, followed by Gombe at 44.09 per cent, and Yobe at 43.51 per cent.

“Kwara at 32.45 per cent, followed by Rivers at 32.80 per cent and Kogi at 32.83 per cent recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.’’

The report, however, said on a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Sokoto at 5.94 per cent, followed by Taraba at 5.76 per cent, and Bayelsa at 4.44 per cent.

“Kwara at 0.88 per cent, followed by Cross River at 1.29 per cent and Kogi at 1.45 per cent, recorded the slowest rise in inflation on a month-on-month basis.” (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

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