By Akilani Abdullah,
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), has disclosed that inflation rates in the country rose to an all time high in January, with an increase to 12.12%, which the bureau said, was 0.15% higher than 11.98% inflation recorded in December 2019.
According to NBS, inflation rates had marked five months of increase in Africa’s most populous nation, a situation which the body stated, called for concern.
NBS released report on Tuesday, and had explained that the nation’s composite food index rose by 14.85% in January 2020, as compared to 14.67% in December 2019.
The report added that the rise was occasioned by increase in prices of edible food items such as rice, bread, cereals, meat, oils, potatoes, yam and fish.
“In January 2020, food inflation on a year on year basis was highest in Sokoto (19.08%), Ogun (18.72%) and Nasarawa (17.07%), while Bayelsa (12.91%), Delta (11.57%) and Benue (11.33%) recorded the slowest rise,”
“Food inflation was highest in Ondo (2.95%), Anambra (2.61%) and Abuja (2.57%), while Benue, Kogi and River States recorded price deflation on a month on month basis”.
NBS noted that consumer inflation rate recorded in January was highest since April 2018, when it stood at 12.48%, and hinted that data analysis suggested that the increases had commenced wake of Nigeria’s borders closure.
It would be recalled that the country had closed its borders, in August 2019, in an attempt to manage rising insecurity as a result of arms smuggling, and also to check mate illegal entry of imported goods through its land borders, which had triggered a rise in cost of several consumer items.
The bureau described current inflation trend as alarming, and called on Federal government to put measures in place to ensure a fall in market prices and, subsequently, effect reduction in inflation rates.
