CBN urged to halt interest rate hike as food inflation drops to 37.52%

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that the Food inflation rate dropped in the month of August 37.52% on a year-on-year basis.

This is as headline inflation dropped to 32.15%, a second consecutive drop in two months.

In a report, the NBS explained that the figure, on a month-on-month basis, was 2.37% which shows a 0.10% decrease compared to the rate recorded in July 2024 (2.47%) due to reduction in prices of tobacco, tea, cocoa, coffee, groundnut oil, milk, yam, Irish potatoes, water yam, cassava tuber, palm oil, and vegetable etc.

It, however, noted that on a year-on-year basis, the figure was 8.18% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (29.34%) and was caused by increases in prices of the following items, bread, maize grains, guinea corn, etc (bread and cereals class), yam, Irish potatoes, water yam, cassava tuber, etc (potatoes, yam & other tubers class), palm oil, vegetable, etc (oil & fats class) and Ovaltine, Milo, Lipton, etc (coffee, tea and cocoa class).