Buharinomics: Nigeria’s Inflation Hits 11-year High

According to data released by the statistics office, the 18.55 per cent is an increase of 0.07 percentage over the 18.48 per cent recorded in the month of November.

On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index rose by 1.06% in December, higher from the rate recorded in November (0.78%).

The data also attributed the rise to surges in the price of housing, water, electricity, clothing and education.

The NBS held that Food Index rose by 17.39 percent (year-on-year) in December 2016, up by 0.20 percent points from rate recorded in November (17.19) percent.

The report reads in part: “During the month, all major food sub-indexes increased, with Soft Drinks recording the slowest pace of increase at 7.66 percent (year on year).

“Price movements recorded by All-Items-less-farm-produce or Core sub-index, rose by 18.10 percent (year-on-year) in December, down by 0.10 percent points from rate recorded in November (18.20) percent. 

“During the month, the highest increases were seen in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, Clothing and Footwear and Education, growing at 27.27, 21.62 and 17.84 percent respectively. 

“On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index rose by 1.06 percent point in December, higher from the rate recorded in November (0.78) percent. “The Urban index rose by 20.12 percent (year-on-year) in December from 20.07 percent recorded in November, and the Rural index increased by 17.20 percent in December from 17.10 percent in November. 

“On month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.08 percent in December from 0.78 percent recorded in November, while the rural index rose by 1.04 percent in December from 0.79 percent in November. 

“The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve-month period ending in December 2016 was 15.7 percent, higher from the 15.0 percent recorded in November 2016. The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index increased from 16.19 percent in November to 17.05 percent in December, while the corresponding rural index also increased from 13.90 percent in November to 14.54 percent in December.”

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari last month presented a 7.298 trillion naira budget estimate for 2017, however the persistent increase in the cost of living in the country have prompted industry analyst to question whether the President’s target are achievable.

The United Nation estimates that 70 percent of the population live on a dollar a day.