Nigeria: Inflation stabilizes in January
Consumer prices rose 1.47% in January, down from December’s 1.82%. The downtick was driven by softer price increases for food, and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels. Clothing and footwear prices rose at December’s rate.
Inflation in January was stable at December’s 15.6%. Annual average inflation eased to 16.9% in January from 17.0% in December. Lastly, core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce, came in at 13.9% in January, matching December’s result.
Analysts at the EIU added:
“Foreign-exchange controls on imported goods and conflict in the Middle Belt—Nigeria’s breadbasket—will keep inflation structurally high and above the 9.0% target ceiling throughout the forecast period. The annual average rate will drop to 13.7% in 2022 […] but will be kept high by an electricity tariff increase and insufficient control over money supply growth by the CBN, which is engaged in various direct lending initiatives. This will be followed by an uptick in 2023, to 14.0%, assuming that fuel prices are liberalised mid-year.”