Nigeria’s inflation falls for third month in June

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell for the third straight month in June, to 22.22% year-on-year from 22.97% in May, data from its statistics agency showed on Wednesday. Inflation in Africa’s most populous country soared to repeated 28-year peaks last year, spurred by President Bola Tinubu’s moves to end costly subsidies and devalue the country’s naira currency after coming to power in 2023. It dropped sharply in January, when the statistics agency updated the base year for its calculations and reweighted the inflation basket, falling to 24.48% in annual terms from 34.80% in December. But its decline has since slowed. Food inflation stood at 21.97% year on year in June compared with 21.14% the month before. The central bank, which has kept its key lending rate unchanged at its last two policy meetings, has another rate-setting meeting next week.