Business - News - February 15, 2023

Nigeria’s Inflation Hits 21.82% in January 2023

Lois Agada February 15, 2023

3 min read

Amid the naira redesign of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s inflation has climbed to a record high of 21.82%. The recent increase was contained in a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

According to the report, the development represents a 0.47% increase when compared to the 21.34% recorded in December 2022. It also revealed that food inflation surged to 24.32% in January 2023 from 23.75% recorded in December 2022.

NBS further attributed the increase in the food inflation rate to a surge in the prices of food items like Oil and Fat, Bread and Cereals, Fish, Potatoes, Yam & Tubers.

The bureau also noted that prices of Gas, Liquid Fuel, Solid Fuel, Fuels, Lubricants for Personal Transport Equipment, Vehicles Spare Parts and Passenger Transport by Air recorded the highest increase.

The recent report presented by the statistics agency reflected a new 17-year high after inflation fell for the first time in December 2022.

Urban and Rural inflation

Urban inflation increased by 6.38%, and stood at 22.5%, while rural inflation increased by 6.08% to 21.13%. Also, an index which monitors the price movement of items except for farm produce, stood at 19.6% in January 2023, an increase from the 18.49% rate of December 2022. Meanwhile, Bauchi State had the highest inflation rate (24.7%), followed by Ondo (24.54%), and Anambra (24.51%). On the flip side, Jigawa, Borno, and Sokoto recorded the lowest inflation rates with 19.09%, 19.62%) and 19.90% respectively.

Inflation rate and the naira redesign

The CBN earlier stated that the naira redesign policy will help nip inflation in the bud. The exercise will help bring hoarded currency into the banking system and make the monetary policy more effective.

Recall that inflation had risen in Africa’s biggest economy for 10 straight months, prompting a string of interest rate hikes from the central bank, before a dip to 21.34% in December.

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