Inflation Looms as Cost of Living Rises

Manufacturers and traders in basic goods and services in the country are reviewing their prices upward by as much as 20 per cent in reaction to the continued concomitant rise in cost-of-living, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can now reveal.
According to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), cost-of-living otherwise called Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 10.4 percent year-on-year in September this year.
The inflationary indicator measures the change in the cost of a fixed basket of products and services, including housing, electricity, food, and transportation. The CPI is published monthly.
Though the NBS said that the increase is slower than 11.0 percent increase recorded in the previous month, the fact remains that there are no signs of recovery yet from the general economic meltdown.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the situation has been exacerbated by the current liquidity squeeze, a direct aftermath of the banking sector reforms embarked upon by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
To mitigate the general cost of doing business and living in the country, some companies have quietly moved their production to neighbouring Ghana and re-import the goods.
Elsewhere, prices of nearly everything like newspaper, newsprint, electronics, cars, computers, hand sets, imported raw materials have risen.
In the NBS report, the bureau admitted that the average monthly food prices rose by 0.6 percent in September when compared with August of the same year. The level of the Composite Food Index was higher than the corresponding level a year ago by 12.5 percent. The average annual rate of rise of the index was 15.9 percent for the twelvemonth period ending September.
The Bureau said that the rise in the index was caused by increase in the prices of food items like yam, meat, fish and sea foods and fruits.
It said that the “all items less farm produce” index which excludes the prices of agricultural produce rose by 0.8 percent in September due to slight increase in the prices of cooking gas, liquid fuels, educational materials and some household goods and equipment.
In the twelve month to September, the index rose by 7.4 percent while the average annual rate of rise of the index was 8.9 percent for the twelve month period ending September.