Dr. Yemi Kale
Inflation moderated from 8.1 per cent in October 2014 to 7.9 percent November of the same year on the wings of slower food prices, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report has shown.
NBS’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) released Friday in Abuja, stated that in November 2014, the pace of price increases observed by the CPI, which measures inflation, eased for the third consecutive month as prices rose by 7.9 per cent (year-on-year), down by 0.2 percentage points from 8.1 per cent recorded in October.
According to the report, the slower pace of price increases recorded by the Headline Index was as a result of a slower rise in food prices as well as other divisions that yielded the Headline Index.
After peaking in August, this year, at 10.0 per cent (year-on-year), the food index has continued to moderate. The Food index rose by 9.1 per cent (year-on-year) in November, down by 0.2 percentage points lower from 9.3 per cent recorded in October.
Following the same trend observed in the Headline Index, this is the third consecutive month where advances in food prices have been relatively muted. While the majority of groups that contribute to the food index declined, price increases were observed in the Vegetables and Coffee, Tea and Cocoa groups. Meats increased at roughly the same pace relative to October,” the report said.
Price movements recorded by the “All Items less Farm Produce” or Core sub-index moved at roughly the same pace for the fourth consecutive month at 6.3 per cent (year-on-year). Increases were observed in the Liquid and Solid Fuels, Non-durable Household Goods, Garments, and Passenger Transport by Road groups. Other groups and divisions that contribute to the index exhibited slower increases.
Also, the percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve-month period ending in November over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was recorded at 8.0 per cent.
The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the Urban Index was 8.2 per cent in November, unchanged from rates recorded in October, while the corresponding Rural Index was also unchanged in November increasing by 7.9 per cent.
The pace of increases in the “All items less Farm Produce” or Core index, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural increased at the same pace for the fourth consecutive month in November with prices rising by 6.3 percent (year-on- year).
On a month-on-month basis, the highest price increases were recorded in the coffee, tea and cocoa; fish, meat and fruit groups. The average annual rate of change of the food sub-index for the 12-month period ending in November 2014 over the previous twelve month average was 9.5 per cent.
