Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s inflation showed no signs of slowing in February amid a cash crunch, as it rose by 21.91 per cent compared to January 2023 headline inflation rate of 21.82 per cent.
Looking at the trend, the February 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.09 per cent points when compared to January 2023 headline inflation rate.
Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.21 per cent higher than the 15.70 per cent achieved in February 2022. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in February 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (February 2022).
The contributions of items on a class basis to the increase in the headline index came from food and rent.
This includes bread and cereal (21.67 per cent), actual and imputed rent (7.74 per cent), potatoes, yam and other tubers (6.06 per cent), vegetables (5.44 per cent), and meat (4.78 per cent).
On a month-on-month basis, the percentage change in the All-Items Index in February 2023 was 1.71 per cent, which was 0.16 percentage points lower than the 1.87 per cent recorded in January 2023. This means that in February 2023, on average, the general price level was 0.16 per cent lower relative to January 2023
The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months period ending February 2023 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 19.87 per cent, showing a 3.15 per cent point increase compared to 16.73 per cent recorded in February 2022.
On a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate in February 2023 was 22.78 per cent, 6.53 per cent points higher compared to the 16.25 per cent recorded in February 2022.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.85 per cent in February 2023, this was 0.13 per cent points lower compared to January 2023 (1.98 per cent).
The corresponding twelve-month average for the urban inflation rate was 20.45 per cent in February 2023. This was 3.16 per cent points higher compared to the 17.29 per cent reported in February 2022.
The rural inflation rate in February 2023 was 21.10 per cent on a year-on-year basis; this was 5.92 per cent points higher compared to the 15.18 per cent recorded in February 2022.
On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate in February 2023 was 1.58 per cent, down by 0.19 per cent points compared to January 2023 (1.77 per cent). The corresponding twelve-month average for the rural inflation rate in February 2023 was 19.33 per cent. This was 3.15 per cent points higher compared to the 16.18 per cent recorded in February 2022.
