Nigeria’s headline inflation drops to 11.31% in February

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released the data for the February 2019 inflation report, showing that Nigeria’s headline consumer price index moderated for the second consecutive month at  11.31 per cent year on year (y/y) in February as against 11.37 per cent in January.

Food inflation rose by 13.47per cent y/y in the review period, slightly lower than the 13.51percent y/y recorded in January.

Notably, the highest increase was recorded in the prices of Fish, Bread and cereals, Vegetables, Meat, Fruits, Potatoes, Yam and other tubers, oils and fats, soft drinks. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation increased at a slower pace, by 0.82 per cent, compared to the 0.83 per cent recorded in the previous month.

Core inflation was 9.8 per cent y/y during the review period as against 9.9 per cent in January.

The highest increases were reported in the prices of tobacco, repair & hire of footwear, major household appliances, domestic services & household services, dental services, medical & hospital services, cleaning, and repair & hire of clothing. On a m/m basis, the core index increased at much slower pace of 0.65 per cent, 15 bps below the 0.65 per cent reported in January.

The data is 2 basis points (bps) above Cordros Capital forecast of 11.29 per cent y/y, but beat Bloomberg consensus estimate of 11.50 per cent y/y by 19 bps. On a month-on-month basis, the headline index printed 0.73 per cent (vs 0.73% in January).