The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, hit a 21-month high in February.
According to the CPI/Inflation report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, inflation increased to 12.20 per cent in February, about 0.07 percentage points from the 12.13 per cent recorded in January.
The last time the inflation rate was in this region was in May 2018, when it was 11.61 per cent
“On a month-on-month basis, the headline index rose by 0.79 per cent in February 2020. This is 0.08 per cent rate lower than the rate recorded in January 2020 (0.87 per cent),” the report read.
“The nation’s urban inflation rate increased by 12.85 per cent (year-on-year) in February 2020 from 12.78 per cent recorded in January 2020, while the rural inflation rate increased by 11.61per cent in February 2020 from 11.54 per cent in January 2020.
“On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 0.82per cent in February 2020, up by 0.10 from 0.92 per cent recorded in January 2020, while the rural index also rose by 0.76 per cent in February 2020, down by 0.07 from the rate recorded in January 2020 (0.83 per cent).”
According to the report, food inflation increased to 14.90per cent in February while core inflation, which excludes the price of volatile agricultural items, increased to 9.43 percent.