Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
AS ordinary Nigerians continue to groan under the yoke of hunger, the inflation rate has surged to 24.08 per cent in July 2023.
This shows a 129 basis-point increase when compared to 22.79 per cent recorded in June.
This is contained in the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for July 2023 released on Tuesday.
The rise in inflation rate for July represents the sixth consecutive increase in the headline index this year.
The significant jump is attributed to the complete removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of the official exchange rate.
According to the NBS, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate stood at 2.89 per cent in July, which was 0.76 per cent higher than the 2.13 per cent recorded in June 2023.
Year-on-year, food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed the most, 12.47 per cent, to the sharp rise in inflation; followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel at 4.03 per cent, and 1.84 per cent from clothing and footwear.
Food inflation rate recorded a spike, rising to 26.98 per cent in July 2023, representing a 1.73 per cent increase from 25.25 per cent recorded in the previous month and 4.97 per cent points higher than the 22.02 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2022.
Analysts had projected July’s inflation rate to accelerate further due to the high cost of PMS (petrol) occasioned by the subsidy removal and the unification of the naira exchange rate.