Inflation rises by 92%, Exchange rate by 122% in 2016 – NBS

The sum up of Consumer Price Index (CPI) reports from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2016, shows that the rate of inflation in Nigeria increased essentially by 92% from 9.62% in January, to 18.5% by November this year. 

From 9.62% in January, the CPI moved to 11.38% February, 12.77% in March and 13.77% in April. Moreover, it bounced to 15.58% in May, 16.48% in June, 17.13% in

July and 17.61% in August.

The CPI edged higher to 17.85 in September, 18.33% in October and 18.48% in November. On the normal, from January to November this year, inflation ascended by 92%, which infers that inflationary pressure was strong in 2016 as prices of goods and services rose astronomically amid the year. 

Nigeria could be said to have suffered double catastrophe this year as foreign exchange rose by 143% from N197 per US dollar to N490 per US dollar at the parallel market today. 

The inflation particularly between the naira and dollar is a business livewire for the nation given the level of Nigerian economy's dependency on foreign goods and services for its operation. 

Toward the start of the year, NBS anticipated that Nigeria would record double digit inflation rate of around 10.16 percent in 2016, up from 9.55 percent recorded in 2015 adding that over the 2017 to 2019 period, headline inflation is relied upon to normal 9.01%. 

As per the Nigeria data house, the speculative pressure on the naira is probably going to exist in 2016 in light of the present condition of foreign reserves and inflation may rise 10% before the end of the year.

Source: National Daily