Nigeria’s inflation rate increased by 18.17 % (year-on-year) in March 2021.

Trouble for economy as Nigeria records highest inflation rate in four years

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a blow to the Nigerian economy. Photo: @sgyemikale/Twitter, Femi Adesina/Facebook

This is 0.82 % points higher than the rate recorded in February (17.33 percent), which makes it the highest reported in four years since April 2017.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported the new figure in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) March 2021 report released on Thursday, April 15.

According to the NBS report, increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.56 % in March 2021.

This is 0.02 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in February 2021 (1.54 %).

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ending March 2021, over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 14.55%, representing a 0.50% point increase over 14.05 % recorded in February 2021.

The urban inflation rate increased by 18.76 % (year-on-year) in March 2021 from 17.92% recorded in February 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased by 17.60 % in March 2021 from 16.77 % in February 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.60 % in March 2021, up by 0.02 compared to the rate recorded in February 2021, while the rural index also rose by 1.52 % in March 2021, up by 0.02 compared to the rate that was recorded in February 2021 (1.50 %).

This is higher than 14.66 % reported in February 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in March 2021 is 13.99 % compared to 13.48 % recorded in February 2021.The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 15.15% in March 2021.

Meanwhile, the claim that Nigeria printed N50-N60 billion last month to cushion its financial trouble has been denied by the federal ministry of finance, budget, and national planning as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

P.M News reports that Osita Nwanisobi, the spokesperson of CBN, on Sunday, April 11, said he was not aware of any money printed by the government. He disclosed this while speaking to journalists.