Nigeria hits 30% inflation, highest in 28 years
Nigeria's inflation rate has
accelerated further and reached almost 30% in annual terms, driven by soaring
food costs and the fall of the country's naira currency to record lows. The
current inflation level is the highest in 28 years.
Some economists believe
the data could help convince the central bank to deliver a large interest rate
hike when it meets later this month.
Consumer inflation rose
for the 13th straight month in January to 29.90 per cent year on year from
December's 28.92 per cent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
Inflation in Africa's
biggest economy and most populous nation has not climbed so high since
mid-1996, eroding incomes and savings, and worsening a cost-living-crisis.
The weaker naira, which
suffered a second devaluation in less than a year last month, is a key factor
behind price pressures alongside energy and logistics costs associated with
infrastructure problems.
The food and
non-alcoholic beverages category was the biggest driver of inflation in January
in annual terms.
Food inflation rose to
35.41 per cent in January, from 33.93% in December.
Vice President Kashim
Shettima said this week that the government planned to set up a commodity board
to regulate the price of grains and other items to curb food costs 0and support
smallholder farmers who dominate production.
The central bank
governor, Olayemi Cardoso, faces pressure to raise interest rates when the
bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets in late February for the first
time since he took office in September.
Cardoso has said the bank
aims for inflation to fall to about 21 per cent and will seek to support
the naira.
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