Inflation drops further to 15.91%

Annual rate of the general rise in prices of goods and services (inflation) in the country slowed for the ninth month in a row in October, easing to 15.91 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest report. However, a separate food price index showed inflation at 20.31 per cent in October, compared with 20.32 per cent in September.

“The rise in the food index, in October 2017 was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, meats, oils and fats, coffee tea and cocoa, milk cheese and eggs vegetables and fish,” the statistics office said in its report.

Last month, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said he expected inflation rates to fall at a faster pace and reach high single-digit rates by the middle of 2018. The central bank kept interest rates at 14 per cent in September to keep liquidity tight, saying it felt that loosening would worsen inflation.

The bank’s monetary policy committee is due to announce its latest interest rate decision on Nov. 21. Nigeria emerged from its first recession in 25 years in the second quarter as oil revenues rose, although the slow pace of growth suggests the recovery remains fragile.