Nigeria: Inflation in April jumps to a nearly six-year high

In April, consumer prices increased 1.6% over the previous month, which was below March’s 2.2% increase. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the month-on-month deceleration reflected softer increases in all categories with the exception of the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel division.

Inflation in April shot up from March’s 12.8% to 13.7%. The print represented the highest rate since June 2010. As a result, annual average inflation ticked up from March’s 9.8% to 10.2% in April, thereby reaching a nearly three-year high.

Core consumer prices, which exclude farm produce and energy prices, rose 1.0% in April over the previous month, which was below the 1.6% rise tallied in March. Core inflation jumped from 10.3% in March to 10.8% in April.

The National Bureau of Statistics expects inflation to end the year at 10.2% and at 9.5% in 2017. FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect inflation to average 11.0% in 2016, which is up 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast. For 2017, panelists forecast an inflation rate of 9.8%.