[UPDATED] Nigeria’s inflation surges to 14.89%, highest in 34 months

Inflation rate in Nigeria jumped in November to 14.89 percent, its highest level in 34 months, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

“This is 0.66 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in October 2020 (14.23 percent),” the NBS said in its latest inflation report.

It said the composite food index rose sharply by 18.30 percent in November from 17.38 percent in October.

“This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, meat, fish, fruits, vegetables and oils and fats,” the statistic office added.

Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited attributed the sustained pressure in the food basket to the underwhelming harvest season, the security challenges in the food-producing regions, and the lingering impact of the border closure on the supply gap.

They noted that the border closure had continued to stoke pressure on consumer staples, given weak domestic production capacity.

The analysts said, “We expect food inflation to continue its uptrend in December on account of sustained impact of the poor harvest season, lingering security challenges in food-producing regions, and festive induced demand that will further widen the supply gap.

“That said, we expect the reforms in the energy sector to drive core inflation higher in December. On balance, we now expect the headline inflation to expand by 85bps to 15.74 percent year-on-year (1.61 percent month-on-month) in December.”