Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Falls, First Time in 19 Months

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate decreased to 33.40% in July 2024, down from 34.19% in June 2024.

This marks the first decline in the headline inflation rate in 19 months – December 2022, when it last dropped to 21.34%.

The National Bureau of Statistics disclosed this in its latest Consumer Price Index and Inflation for July released on Thursday.

According to the report, the headline inflation rate decreased by 0.79 percentage points in July 2024 compared to June 2024.

On a year-on-year basis, the rate was 9.32 percentage points higher than in July 2023, when it stood at 24.08%. This indicates an increase in the headline inflation rate on a year-on-year basis for July 2024 compared to the same month in the previous year.

Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in July 2024 was 2.28%, slightly lower than the 2.31% recorded in June 2024.

The decline was in line with the expectations of financial analysts who projected that the country’s inflation would cool off from July to August.

“The picture is that the rate of increase in price level has begun to slow. Hence, we are projecting that information will begin to decline from July to August”, the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives said in June.

Read Also: Nigeria’s Inflation Rate To Drop in 2024, 2025 – IMF

CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso had earlier assured that the Monetary Policy Committee would do everything to tame inflation.

As part of measures to ensure inflation is tame, CBN through MPC has continued to raise interest rates.

The latest was in July when it raised the rate by 50 basis points to 26.75 percent from 26.25 percent in May.

Additionally, the Nigerian government had recently introduced fiscal measures including zero import duties on selected staple foods to tackle inflation.

Also, recall that Defence Headquarters recently said that it had deployed its troops to farmsz especially in the North East and North Central to ensure a hitch-free farming season in Nigeria.