Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Jumps To 21.9% Amid Failed Naira Policy

Nigeria’s inflation rate increased to 21.9% in February 2023 from the 21.82% recorded in January, OduNews reports.

This was contained in a report titled “Consumer Price Index (February 2023)” by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

The CBN launched the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes in November 2022 in a bid to tackle cash hoarding and vote-buying ahead of the 2023 general elections.

The extended deadline of February 10 was enforced amid a Supreme Court ruling allowing the validity of the old notes.

“In February 2023, the headline inflation rate rose to 21.91% compared to January 2023 headline inflation rate which was 21.82%,” it stated.

“Looking at the trend, the February 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.09% points when compared to January 2023 headline inflation rate.”

Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.21 per cent points higher, compared to the rate recorded in February 2022, which was 15.70 per cent.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in February 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., February 2022),” the report stated.

“The contributions of items on a class basis to the increase in the headline index are presented, thus: Bread and Cereal (21.67%), Actual and Imputed Rent (7.74%), Potatoes, Yam and Other Tubers (6.06%), Vegetable (5.44%) and Meat (4.78%).”

The NBS noted that on a month-on-month basis, the percentage change in the All-Items Index in February 2023 was 1.71 per cent, which was 0.16 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in January 2023 (1.87 per cent).

“This means that in February 2023, on average, the general price level was 0.16% per cent lower relative to January 2023.

“The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months period ending February 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 19.87%, showing a 3.15% points increase compared to 16.73% recorded in February 2022. The increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yielded the headline index.”