Nigeria’s headline month-on-month inflation rate is confirmed to have slowed for a third time in a row in May 2024, indicating that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary policy tightening measures enacted this year are having the intended effect.
Headline inflation, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), decelerated in May to 2.14 per cent from a month earlier, slowing from 2.29 per cent in April and 3.02 per cent in March.
It said that the monthly rate has declined from as high as 3.12 per cent in February, reflecting a slowdown in price increases for essential goods and food. It added that inflation also fell for a third consecutive month to 2.28 per cent in May, from 2.50 per cent in April, and as much as 3.79 per cent in February. the NBS data shows that the monthly inflation trend underscores conviction from members of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that a combination of tighter monetary policy and appropriate coordinated fiscal measures from the Federal Government will prove effective in arresting the sharp increase in the cost of living that has afflicted Nigerians since the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Report said that while year-on-year inflation has continued to inch higher, it is the monthly numbers that are the all-important indicators isolating the impact since the CBN began raising interest rates in February this year.
The Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate at the CBN, Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, expressed happiness on the development, saying: “slowly but surely, the inflation tide is turning.
“While the numbers are not yet uniform for all measures, such as year-on-year across the entire country, we will continue to work diligently with coordinated policy measures to ensure that the worst of the inflationary cycle is behind us in the nearest future.
“Year-on-year inflation slowed in May for 13 Nigerian states, including Abuja, Akwa Ibom, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Katsina, Ondo, Oyo and Rivers.
“The month-on-month inflation rate decline, which is nationwide, is reflected in a slowing pace of price rises for some food staples.”
CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso has made tackling inflation his paramount mission as the essential path to achieving sustainable economic growth in the mid- to long-term and improving the standard of living for ordinary people.
