Costs of garri, rice others rise as inflation rate drops – NBS

The selected food price watch data released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the average prices of yam, beef, tinned milk, onion, frozen chicken, tomato and beans also recorded exceptional leaps in the last one year.

This is even as the NBS reported in a separate report, also released yesterday, that Nigeria recorded first drop in inflation rate in 15 months as the rate slowed by 0.94 per cent from the 18.72 per cent recorded in January to 17.78 per cent in February 2017.

The Consumer Price Index showed that the latest drop in inflation rate represents “the effects of slower rises in already high food and non-food prices and favourable base effects over 2016 prices.”

“This development came as no surprise as the markets were already anticipating a reversal in trend.” according to analysts at Financial Derivatives Company 

They said Nigeria’s sub-Saharan African (SSA) peers such as Congo, Angola and Mozambique  reported a similar decline. Nigeria currently has the 7th highest inflation rate in SSA.  

The data showed that the  decline in the inflation rate of 0.94% was capped by increases in the food basket.  The food index, which is relatively forex insensitive, edged up to 18.53% from 17.82% the previous month. 

They suggested a conscious effort to taper the level of waste in the power sector.