Inflation rate in Nigeria rose to 22.04 percent in March 2023, showing an increase of 0.13 percent points when compared to February 2023 headline inflation rate which was 21.91 percent.
This is according to the recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Saturday, and it shows that the March inflation rate is the highest since 2009.
The CPI measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services.
The NBS in its report said, “In March 2023, the headline inflation rate rose to 22.04 percent compared to February 2023 headline inflation rate which was 21.91 percent.
“Looking at the trend, the March 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.13 percent points when compared to February 2023 headline inflation rate.
“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.13 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2022 which was 15.92 percent. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in March 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., March 2022).”
The NBS further stated that the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased to 11.42 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuel, 3.69 percent; clothing & footwear, 1.69 percent; and transport, 1.43 percent.
Other increases are: furnishings, household equipment & maintenance, 1.11 percent; education, 0.87 percent; health, 0.66 percent; miscellaneous goods & services, 0.37 percent; restaurant & hotels, 0.27 percent; alcoholic beverage, tobacco & kola, 0.24 percent; recreation & culture, 0.15 percent, and communication, 0.15 percent.
According to the NBS, the increase in prices of the aforestated items contributed immensely to the rise of the inflationary figure in Nigeria during the period under review.
Analysts say the continuous rise in the inflation rate poses great challenge to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) monetary policy strategy of tightening, and a pointer to the existence of structural challenges in the Nigerian economy, especially in areas of food, housing, and petrol.
Nigeria’s inflation rate for the month of March 2022 was 15.92 percent, and this led to the commencement of the CBN monetary policy tightening.
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