Inflation rate accelerates to 11.28% in Sept

Prof. Yemi Kale, DG, National Bureau of Statistics

The Consumer Price Index, (CPI) which measured inflation for September increased to 11.28 per cent (year-on-year) from 11.23 per cent recorded in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.
Latest inflation data from for September released by the NBS in Abuja showed that inflation rate was 0.05 per cent points higher than that of August.
The report showed that increases were recorded in all the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.
On a month-on-month basis, NBS said that the Headline Index increased by 0.84 per cent in September down by 0.21 per cent points from the rate recorded in August (1.05%).
It said that the percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ended September over the average of CPI for the previous 12 months period.
It however measured the CPI at 13.16 per cent in the period under review, showing 0.39 per cent point from 13.55 per cent recorded in August.
Amid general increases in prices of goods and services, the latest rise is the second in two successive months after 18 consecutive months of decline, from about 17.78 percent in February 2017 to 11.14 percent in July 2018.
Despite the rising rate, the NBS said core inflation, which mirrors the actual inflation for the country’s economy, dropped marginally to about 9.8 percent, from 10 percent.
Analysts say the new inflation figure is still in line with the federal government’s target of a single digit rate in the foreseeable future.
A research analyst at SY&T Communications Limited, Lukman Otunuga, said most investors in the Nigerian stock market were concerned the latest rise in inflation was not the onset of another round of inflationary pressures in Nigeria during the final trading quarter of the year.
Mr. Otunuga said concerns may heighten over inflation edging away from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s target of six to nine percent.
“The combination of rising inflation, uncertainty ahead of the 2019 elections, global trade tensions and U.S. rate hike expectations are all likely factors to force the CBN to retain status quo (in the MPR) this quarter”, Mr. Otunuga noted.