The Consumer Price Index reports released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown that inflation in Nigeria rose from 9.62% in January to 18.5% in November, a 92% increase. Similarly, the exchange rate suffered a staggering 143% increase against the dollar from N197 to N490 at the parallel market.
These events have eclipsed the NBS’ projections at the beginning of the year, when it predicted inflation figures of about 10.16%, expecting inflation rates too average 9.01% between 2017 and 2019. With the current state of the nation’s reserves, the likelihood of a reprieve is not really strong.
Below is a month-by-month breakdown of how the inflation rate soared in 2016.
January-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 9.62%
February-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 11.38%Â (+18.3%)
March                  12.77% (12.2%)
April-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 13.77%Â (+7.8%)
May-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 15.58%Â (13.1%)
June-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 16.48%Â (+5.8%)
July-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 17.13%Â (+3.9%)
August-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 17.61%Â (+2.8%)
September-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 17.85%Â (+1.4%)
October-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 18.33%Â (+2.7%)
November-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 18.48%Â (0.8%)
The good thing is that the rate of growth slowed consistently. I’m hoping with the rise in oil prices and larger foreing reserves, there would be less speculation on the naira. However, I feel the CBN needs to ease off on the defense of the Naira just a little.