LAGOS (Reuters) -Nigeria’s annual inflation rose to 22.41% in May on a year-on-year basis from 22.22% in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.
Food and non alcoholic beverages were the biggest drivers of inflation, the bureau said.
Inflation has remained elevated in Africa’s biggest economy, eroding savings and incomes, and prompting the central bank to hike interest rates to their highest level in nearly two decades.
On Wednesday, the central bank moved to liberalize foreign exchange trading, capping a dramatic day that saw the official naira rate devalued by more than a third.
Food inflation, which accounts for the bulk of Nigeria’s inflation basket, rose to 24.82% in May from 24.61% in April.
“The rise in the food inflation on year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of oil and fat, yam and other tubers, Bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, fruits, meat, vegetable…,” NBS said.
The central bank has said expectations of rising energy, widespread insecurity in food producing areas and exchange rate pressure were also major inflation triggers.
High inflation, weak economic growth and widespread insecurity are some of the major issues that Nigeria’s new president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, inherited following a disputed election in February.
Unifying the exchange rate and scrapping a costly subsidy were the most immediate tasks that Tinubu faced. Delivering these within the first two weeks of his presidency has cheered the markets.
(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Chijioke Ohuocha in Abuja; Editing by Jon Boyle and Toby Chopra)
