Nigeria Inflation Eased to 17.75% in June
By Sahabi Abdul
Nigeria’s annual inflation slowed further in June to 17.75 percent against 17.93 percent in the previous month, corresponding to a slight easing of the food index amid continuing inflationary pressures.
“This implies that prices continued to rise in June 2021 but at a slightly
slower rate than it did in May 2021,” the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on its website.
June recorded a little deceleration of the food index which stood at a 21.83 percent increase compared with 22.28 percent a month earlier. All the components of the inflation index rose during the month under consideration, according to the report.
Food supply in Nigeria has been constrained by insecurity in the major food producing areas of central and northern Nigeria, as violence between herders and farmers intensify over grazing land.
Low oil demand, output and prices since the coronavirus pandemic hit Nigeria at its most vulnerable, oil being its main export accounting for more than 90 percent of foreign income. This has in turn increased pressure on the exchange rate of the naira in the face of inadequate foreign-currency supply to fund imports.