Last week, the government announced it was scrapping a costly fuel subsidy scheme and increasing petrol prices by up to 67 percent which will affect many of Nigeria’s 180 million people who rely on gasoline to power electricity generators as well as transport.
The new prices have yet to feed into the inflation figures, but NBS data suggests fuel was already generally sold at a higher price than the new official ceiling throughout much of April, meaning more inflationary pressure could be building.
Food prices, which account for the bulk of the inflation basket, rose 13.2 percent in April, up 0.4 percentage points from March, the bureau said on its website.
Inflation has also been fuelled by pressure on the naira, which on Monday slipped to its weakest level in months against the dollar in the non-deliverable forward market.
Speculation that the central bank will soon devalue the currency – which the bank denied on Sunday – has swirled since the vice president last week said foreign currency policies needed to be changed to encourage investment. (Reuters)