Inflation to reach highest level since January 2019 – FSDH

Head of research at FSDH, Ayodele Akinwunmi, has hinted that Nigeria may record highest inflation rate figure since January 2019 in the coming months.

Akinwunmi who gave the hint at the FSDH’s monthly media press briefing in Lagos at the weekend noted that such would not be good news for the economy and the purchasing power of Nigerians.

“Most people say they would not appreciate a situation where the prices of consumer goods increase at a rate faster than the expected increase in the approved National Minimum Wage. We expect the May inflation rate to further increase marginally to 11.39% from 11.37% recorded in April 2019,” he said.

“In addition, we expect the month-on-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to increase by 1.10% in May 2019, the highest since January 2019.”

Akinwunmi explained that with rainy season, the research arm of FSDH has observed upward pressure on the food component of the inflation basket, noting that the major driver of the expected increase in the inflation rate is the increase in food prices due to the seasonality effect typically associated with the onset of the planting season.

He also observed that security challenges in some food producing regions have reduced the supply of food items, leading to an increase in prices.