Inflation rate drops further as CBN sustains FX intervention

The National Bureau of Statistics has on Friday released the Consumer Price Index report which showed that inflation rate dropped from 16.05 per cent in July to 16.01 per cent in August.

In the report, the NBS said this is the seventh consecutive month that the index would be declining since January this year.

On a month-on-month basis, the NBS report said the headline index increased by 0.97 per cent in August 2017, representing a 0.24 per cent points decline over the rate of 1.21 percent recorded in June.

The report reads in part, “The Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation increased by 16.01 per cent (year-on-year) in August 2017.

“This was 0.04 percent points lower than the rate recorded in July (16.05) percent making it the seventh consecutive decline in the rate of headline year on year inflation since January 2017.”

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“On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 0.97 per cent in August 2017, 0.24 per cent points lower from the rate of 1.21 percent recorded in June.”

The NBS report stated that food inflation increased by 20.25 per cent year-on-year in July, down marginally by 0.03 per cent points from the 20.28 per cent recorded in July.

On a month-on-month basis, the report said food sub-index increased by 1.14 per cent in July, down by 0.38 percentage points from 1.52 per cent recorded in July.

Speaking on the drop in inflation rate, finance analysts attributed the decrease to various factors such as transparency in the foreign exchange market, intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria in ensuring liquidity in the foreign exchange market.