Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 24.08 per cent in July from 22.79 per cent in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday.
The statistics office said the July 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 1.29 per cent points when compared to June 2023 headline inflation rate.
The NBS said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 4.44 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in July 2022, which was 19.64 per cent.
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in July 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., July 2022),” it said.
According to the report, the food inflation rate quickened to 26.98 per cent in July from 25.25 per cent in June.
Although the prices of food have been on the rise across Nigeria in recent years. But the situation deteriorated due to the impact of government policies such as the removal of subsidy on petrol, among others.
On 29 May, during his inauguration, President Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy on petrol. This development has caused hardship for many Nigerians with its attendant increase in the prices of goods and services.
Apart from the removal of subsidy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also announced the unification of all segments of the forex exchange (FX) market as part of efforts to engender transparency in the markets and boost investors’ confidence.