Nigeria’s Inflation Soars To 21.82%

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria’s inflation soared to 21.82 per cent in January 2023.

Nigeria’s Inflation Hits 21.82%

This comes amid the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign policy.

January’s inflation rate is a 0.48 per cent point increase from the 21.34 per cent that was recorded in December 2022.

Reports say this is a new 17-year high after inflation fell for the first time in December 2022. Before December, Nigeria’s inflation rate had been rising consistently for 11 months.

The NBS had in 2022 listed disruption in the supply of food products, increases in import cost due to the naira’s depreciation, and a general increase in the cost of production as the cause of the rise in inflation.

In its ‘Consumer Price Index’ for January 2023, the NBS said, “In January 2023, the headline inflation rate rose to 21.82 per cent compared to December 2022 headline inflation rate which was 21.34 per cent.

“Looking at the trend, the January 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.47 per cent points when compared to December 2022 inflation rate. However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.22 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2022, which was 15.60 per cent.

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

According to the NBS, increases in the prices of bread and cereal, actual and imputed rent, potatoes, yam and tuber, vegetables, and meat.

CBN recently said its naira redesign policy will help control inflation.

The apex bank’s Acting Branch Controller in Ondo State, Mr. Giwa Ademola, said, “The benefits of the currency redesign to the Nigerian economy are enormous given that this policy will help to control inflation, as the exercise will bring the hoarded currency into the banking system, thereby making monetary policy more effective.

“It will also help with better design and implementation of monetary policy as we will have much more accurate data on money supply and monetary aggregates.”

In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that Kanyi Daily reported that the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele to reverse the naira redesign policy now.

Rotimi Akeredolu said that both the new and old notes should be allowed to co-exist, noting that despite an existing court injunction, the old notes seem to have ceased to be legal tender in the country.