I don’t want to be remembered for my many fights — Obaseki

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigeria’s inflation rate surged to 27.33 per cent in October.

The NBS made this known in a report on Wednesday, adding that it was a 0.61 percentage point from the 26.72 per cent that was recorded in September.

According to the Bureau, in its Consumer Price Index (October 2023) that was published today, “In October 2023, the headline inflation rate increased to 27.33 per cent relative to the September 2023 headline inflation rate which was 26.72 per cent.

“Looking at the movement, the October 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.61 percentage points when compared to the September 2023 headline inflation rate.

“Furthermore, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.24 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2022, which was (21.09 per cent). This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in October 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., October 2022).”

It disclosed that major contributors to the rise in inflation were food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity gas and other fuel, clothing and footwear, transport, and furnishings and household equipment and maintenance.

The continued increase in inflation has been attributed to the removal of petrol subsidies and the devaluation of the official exchange rate.

In its recent forecast for the year, KPMG predicted that Nigeria’s headline inflation may rise to 30 per cent by December 2023 because of fuel subsidy removal, and the unification of the foreign exchange market.