Food inflation in Nigeria rose in August to 16.0 per cent, compared with 15.48 per cent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report on Tuesday. Headline inflation, which includes the prices of food and other goods and services, grew to 13.22 per cent in the same month from 12.82 per cent in July. It is the highest in more than two years.
Increase in food prices was responsible for most of the rise in inflation across the country. Nigeria has seen double digits food inflation for more than three years. Recent sharp increases have been attributed to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic during which the government locked down the country.
The government has said it expects the economy to contract by as much as 8.9 per cent this year. The economy contracted by 6.1 per cent in the second quarter, as announced by the NBS. The central bank has said inflation is likely to rise to up to 14.15 per cent at the end of December.
“This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, meat, fish, fruits, oils and fats, and vegetables,” according to the bureau of statistics’ composite food index on Tuesday. If food inflation is excluded, the NBS said the rise in prices of other more stable goods, called core inflation, stood at 10.52 per cent in August 2020, compared with 10.10 per cent recorded in July 2020.
