Inflation Maintains Downward Trend, Drops to 11.14%

For the 18th unbroken month, inflation rate continued a downward trajectory, declining from 11.23 per cent in June to 11.14 per cent in July.
This is coming as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intensified its public enlightenment drive on its currency swap policy, explaining that a major objective of the recent Bilateral Currency Swap Agreement (BCSA) it sealed with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) was to ease the pressure on Nigeria’s foreign reserves.
In its latest figures, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation stood at 11.14 per cent (year-on-year) in July 2018, representing a 0.09 percentage points drop over the rate recorded in June 2018 (11.23) per cent.
The 18th consecutive disinflation (fall in inflation) in headline inflation year-on-year also recorded increases in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP).
COICOP is used to classify both individual consumption expenditure and actual individual consumption.
On month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.13 per cent in July 2018, down by 0.11 per cent points from the rate recorded in June 2018 (1.24 per cent).
This represents the first-time month-on-month, headline inflation decline since February 2018.
The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ending July 2018 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 13.95 per cent, showing 0.42 per cent point from 14.37 per cent recorded in June 2018.
The urban inflation rate eased by 11.66 per cent (year-on-year) in July 2018 from 11.68 per cent recorded in June 2018, while the rural inflation rate remained flat at 10.83 per cent in July 2018 from 10.83 per cent in June 2018.
On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.23 per cent in July 2018, down by 0.01 from 1.24 per cent recorded in June, while the rural index also rose by 1.18 per cent in July 2018, down by 0.05 per cent from the rate recorded in June 2018 (1.23) per cent.
The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index was 14.33 per cent in July 2018.
This was less than the 14.71 per cent reported in June 2018, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in July 2018 was 13.64 per cent compared to 14.08 per cent recorded in June 2018.
The composite food index rose by 12.85 per cent in July 2018 compared to 12.98 per cent in June 2018.
This represents the tenth consecutive decline in year-on-year food inflation since September 2017.
This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of potatoes, yam and other tubers, vegetables, Bread and cereals, fish, oils and fat and fruits.
On month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 1.40 per cent in July 2018, down by 0.17 per cent points from 1.57 per cent recorded in June.
This represents the first-time month on month food inflation has declined since February 2018.
The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the 12-month period ending July 2018 over the previous twelve-month average was 17.10 per cent, 0.65 per cent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in June (17.75) per cent