The National Bureau of Statistics today released the Consumer Price Index which measures the inflation rate for the month of February 2018. The report puts inflation rate at 14.33% year-on-year. This is 0.8 percent points less than the rate recorded in January 2018 (15.13) percent. This thirteenth consecutive fall in inflation since January 2017.
On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 0.79 percent in February 2018, down by 0.01 percent points from the rate recorded in January.
The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve-month period ending February 2018 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve month period was 15.93 percent, showing 0.29 percent point lower from 16.22 percent recorded in January 2018.
The Food Index increased by 17.59 percent (year-on-year) in February, down by 1.33 percent points from rate recorded in January 2018 (18.92) percent. During the month, all major food sub-indexes increased.
The Price movements recorded by All Items less farm produce or Core sub-index increased by 11.7 percent (year-on-year) in February 2018, down by 0.4 percent points from the rate recorded in January (12.10) percent.
How it affects you
The fall in inflation rate would lead to lower interest rates for treasury bills. For businesses and consumers it should, in theory, lead to lower interest rates on loans. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) could decide to lower the interest rate at their next meeting scheduled for next week.
Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele had in October last year stated his expectations of a high single-digit interest rate . There are however fears in some quarters that this target may not be met by the middle of this year considering that spending ahead of 2019 presidential elections could stoke prices.
