Inflation Bites as Prices of Household Items Rise

Cooking gas, liquid fuels and some household goods and equipments faced volatile upward price movements forcing “All items less Farm Produce” otherwise core inflation to rise by 0.1 per cent in December last year, according to figures released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that cooking gas, liquid fuels and some household goods and equipments are usually more sensitive because supply shocks have always profound impact on the prices of the products.
According to the Bureau which provides statistical information relating to the social and economic activities as well as conditions of the inhabitants of Nigeria, in the 12 month to December 2009, the index rose by 9.7 percent while the average annual rate of rise of the index was 9.1 percent for the twelve month period.
Elsewhere, the Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI), an indicator of changes in consumer prices experienced by Nigerians rose by 12 percent year on year in December 2009 but it is however lower than 12.4 percent increase recorded in the previous month.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the CPI is obtained by comparing through time, the cost of a fixed basket of commodities purchased by consumers.
The monthly change of the CPI was 0.4 percent increase during the period when compared with November of the same year.
The urban All Items index rose by 0.1 percent while the corresponding rural index increased by 0.5 percent in December 2009 when compared with their preceding month.
The year on year average consumer price level as at December 2009 for Urban and Rural dwellers rose by 7.9 and 14.0 percent respectively.
The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve month period ending December 2009 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve month period was 12.4. This was slightly lower than what was recorded by making similar comparison in November 2009.
The corresponding 12 month average percent change for urban and rural indices rose by 9.0 and 14.1 respectively.
Average monthly food prices rose by 0.7 percent in December 2009 when compared with November of the same year.  The level of the Composite Food Index was higher than the corresponding level a year ago by 13.6 percent.
The average annual rate of rise of the index was 14.7 percent for the 12 month period ending December 2009. The rise in the index was caused by increase in the prices of some food items like garri, yam, meat, seafood, onions, tomatoes, fresh pepper and vegetables.