Nigeria: Inflation comes in at eight-month high in April
Consumer prices rose 1.76% in April, up from March’s 1.74%. The print reflected a stronger rise in food and non-alcoholic beverages; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; and clothing and footwear prices.
Inflation in April rose to an eight-month high of 16.8% from March’s 15.9%. However, annual average inflation eased to 16.4% in April from 16.5% in March. Lastly, core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce, came in at 14.2% in April, rising from March’s 13.9%.
Analysts at the EIU added:
“Inflation in Nigeria is structurally high but is often tolerated by the CBN, which is wary of obstructing economic growth. The jump in the consumer price index over April will be hard for the central bank to ignore. […] Price growth in 2022 shows no signs of slowing down, and international food and fuel prices will remain elevated as long as the Russia-Ukraine war rages (and there is no near-term end to the conflict in sight). Meanwhile, insecurity across swathes of central Nigeria weighs on the agricultural supply chain, and imported staples continue to be restricted by the CBN as a means of defending the naira. […] In all, we expect a 100basis-point increase in the policy rate over the course of 2022, to 12.5%. We expect inflation to average 17.1% this year.”