The continuous soaring food prices and foreign exchange pressures may have pushed up push inflation rate beyond 29 per cent, it was learnt yesterday.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) will today release the Inflation Report.
Intelligence reports by many economic and finance firms surveyed yesterday by The Nation showed that inflation may have risen by between 50 to 80 basis points last month, the highest since August 2005.
But, experts expressed optimism that early gains from the reforms introduced by the government would ease the pressure on Nigerians and put the economy on a steady path of recovery.
The increase in inflation in December 2023 indicated that the average costs of basic living items rose for every month last year.
Ahead of today’s release of the inflation report by the NBS, independent consumer surveys and econometric models indicated that inflation remained unabated, although the momentum of price increases appeared to be slowing down.
The reports indicated that inflation may rise from 28.2 per cent in November 2023 to an estimated ceiling of about 29 per cent in December 2023. It had started the year with 21.8 per cent in January 2023.
The Bismarck Rewane-led FDC pointed out that “inflation is estimated to decline in 2024”, noting that inflation expectations are more important than historical inflation.
“Though inflation in Nigeria has increased consistently in 2023, many experts are projecting a significant decline in 2024. According to EIU, inflation in Nigeria is expected to fall to 23.6 per cent in 2024 and 17 per cent in 2025. These projections are not unrealistic, as Nigeria is likely to see a moderation in inflationary pressures in the second half of 2024,” FDC stated.
