Africa’s largest economy sees inflation hitting 15.75 percent in December, its highest in 33 months, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Nigeria, which had closed its borders from August 2019 to December 2020 (the import of rice and certain foodstuffs remaining prohibited) to stimulate its process of food self-sufficiency, is moving further away from the convergence criteria for the adoption of Eco, the single currency of ECOWAS.
This Olympic inflation, which results in part from the instability of the national currency, the Naira, supported by massive dips in foreign exchange reserves, is felt heavily in the basket of the housewife. Thus, the NBS estimates that food inflation reached 19.56% in December 2020 against 18.30% a month earlier. “This increase in the food index was caused by the increase in the prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yams and other tubers, meat, fruits, vegetables, fish and vegetables. oils and fats, ”reports the statistics agency.
Likewise, core inflation, which excludes changes in food and energy prices, stood at 11.37% in December 2020, up 0.32% from the 11. 05% recorded in November. The NBS estimated that the highest increases during the month were recorded in the prices of air passenger transport, medical services, hospital services, footwear, road passenger transport, miscellaneous services related to hairdressers and personal care establishments.
