The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has accelerated for the sixth consecutive time to 22.79 per cent in June 2023.
NBS data released on Monday revealed the development.
The black giant country’s inflation rate rose to a new 17-year high of 22.79 per cent in June 2023 up from 22.41 per cent in May.
“In June 2023, the Headline inflation rate rose to 22.79 per cent relative to May 2023 headline inflation rate, which was 22.41 per cent. Looking at the movement, the June 2023 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.38 percentage points when compared to May 2023 headline inflation rate”, NBS stated.
“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 4.19 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in June 2022, which was 18.60 per cent. This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in June 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., June 2022).”
NBS added that food and non-alcoholic beverages (11.81 per cent) led the list of items that contributed to the rising inflation figure.
In June, the World Bank projected that the removal of fuel subsidies by President Bola Tinubu would contribute to the country’s increasing inflation rate.
In the bank’s June edition of ‘Nigeria Development Update’, it said, “The removal of the petrol subsidy is anticipated to cause a temporary increase in inflation in the upcoming months before contributing to disinflation in the medium term.”