Nigeria: Inflation increases in March
Inflation rose to 33.2% in March, above February’s 31.7%. March’s result was the highest inflation rate since March 1996. Looking at the details of the release, prices for food, and for housing and energy rose at quicker rates in March. On the flip side, prices for transportation grew at a slower pace.
Accordingly, annual average inflation rose to 27.1% in March (February: 26.2%). Meanwhile, core inflation rose to 25.4% in March, from February’s 24.7%.
Lastly, consumer prices rose 3.02% from the previous month in March, which was below the 3.12% increase seen in February.
Our panelists see inflation peaking in Q2 and project a slight slowdown in the second half of 2024, on the back of recent monetary policy tightening.
Analysts at the EIU commented on the outlook:
“Inflation is likely to peak in May, with disinflation setting in throughout the remainder of 2024 and into 2025. However, infrastructure gaps, lax policy and insecurity—alongside our expectation that the naira will lose some ground against the US dollar later in the year as foreign reserves, which are in decline owing to market intervention, continue to drop—will combine to keep the average rate of inflation high into 2025.”