…as food inflation hits 32.84
The general increase in the prices of food items has pushed Nigeria’s annual inflation to 28.20 percent in November from 21.47 percent percent it was in November 2022. This is the highest in 18 years.
The National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS) which disclosed this in its consumers price index (CPI) and Inflation Report November for 2023 released yesterday said food inflation rose from 24.13 percent in November 2022 to 32.84 percent in November 2023.
The NBS said, the November 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.87 percent points when compared to October 2023 headline inflation rate which was 27.33 percent
Nigeria has been battling double-digits inflation since 2016, a situation that has eroded incomes and savings and worsened a cost-living crisis in the country.
The new governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has adopted an inflation-targeting policy and vowed to phase out the bank’s fiscal intervention programmes in a bid to tame inflation.
The CBN governor on Thursday while addressing the Joint Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions in Abuja, said the country’s inflation rate and the pressures on the exchange rate will reduce in the coming year.
According to him, “The outlook for the domestic economy remains positive and is expected to maintain the positive trajectory for 2024.
Inflation pressures may persist in the short-term but are expected to decline in 2024. Exchange rate pressures are also expected to reduce significantly with the smooth functioning of the foreign exchange market.”
He also said the country is expecting less oil revenue in the new year owing to several factors.
National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, said the intervention of the CBN in Agriculture was not well thought out insisting that it is responsible for the persistent hike in the prices of food items even during harvesting period.