Inflation Rises Further For 13th Consecutive Month

Consumer Price Index released by the statistics office showed that inflation in the country went from 18.33% in October to 18.48% in November.

“The Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation increased by 18.48 percent (year-on-year) in November 2016, 0.15 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in October (18.33 percent),” the NBS said in a statement.

On a month-to-month basis, the November-October phase shows a fall of 0.78 per cent, compared to October-September phase that had a 0.83 per cent rise.

The statistics agency said food items increased by 17.2 percent (year-on-year) in the month under review, up 0.1 points from the October rise.

The rise, according to the NBS was mostly affected by items needed for the Christmas and New Year celebration.

“During the month, the highest increases were seen in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, clothing materials and other articles of clothing, books, liquid fuel, passenger transport by air, motor cycles and shoes and other footwear,” the NBS added.

Others include major food items like: bread and cereals, oil and fats, fish and meat.However, beverages like soft drink recorded the slowest pace of increase at 7.76 percent year on year.

Also comparing urban and rural indices the report showed a 19.9% increase in Nove

mber in urban areas against 21.1 in rural index, this is also a slight rise from 16.9 per cent in October to 17.1 per cent in November.

On a month-on-month basis, while the urban index declined from 0.84 per cent in October to 0.79 per cent, rural index fell from 0.81 per cent in October to 0.78 per cent in November.

The NBS said communication and insurance recorded the slowest pace of growth in November, growing at about 5.61 percent and 6.76 percent year-on-year respectively.

On Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled a plan to spend 7.3 trillion naira ($23 billion) in 2017, a 20-percent boost over this year’s spending, to “pull the economy out of recession as quickly as possible”.

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12-month period ending in November 2016 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12-month period was 15 percent, higher from 14.2 per cent recorded in October.

The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index increased from 15.32 per cent in October to 16.19 percent in November, while the corresponding rural index also increased from 13.25 percent in October to 13.9 percent in November.

The Nigerian economy has been hammered by the global crash in prices of crude oil, despite incessant attacks on oil infrastructure my militants in the Niger Delta region. Oil worth over 70 percent of the country’s revenue.

In June, the central bank removed a 15-month peg on the naira. The currency now trades at 485 to the dollar in the open market.

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday proposed a budget of 7.3 trillion naira for the 2017 budget, a 20-percent boost over this year’s spending, to “pull the economy out of recession as quickly as possible”.