Country Inflation rises to 13.7%

Increase in the electricity tariff and the impact of higher prices of Premium Motor Spirit known as petrol has  pushed the country’s inflation rate to 13.7 per cent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

The NBS, in its Consumer Price Index report for the month of April, stated that the 13.7 per cent rate of inflation represented an increase of 0.9 percentage points when compared to the 12.8 per cent recorded in March.

The report stated that the April inflation rate was the highest to be recorded in the country since January 2013 when the CPI rose by 13.74 per cent.

The NBS attributed the rise in inflation to “structural constraints” in the economy.

Some of these structural constraints, according to the bureau, are increase in electricity tariff, high prices of petrol and kerosene as well as increase in the prices of vehicle spare parts.

The report read in part, “In April, the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, recorded a relatively strong increase for the third consecutive month. The Headline index increased by 13.7 per cent (year-on-year), roughly 0.9 per cent points higher from rates recorded in March (12.8 per cent).

“The higher rate of increase, relative to March, was reflected in faster increases across all divisions, which contribute to the index with the exception of the restaurants and hotels division, which increased, albeit at a slower pace for the third consecutive month.

“Lingering structural constraints continue to manifest spill overs in April as electricity rates, kerosene prices, the impact of higher PMS prices and vehicle spare parts were the largest contributors to the core sub index during the month.

“These items as well as other imported items continued to have ripple effects across many divisions that contribute to the core.”

Year-on-year, the report explained that both the urban and rural indices recorded marked increases for the third consecutive month.

For instance, it stated that the urban index rose by 1.6 per cent from 13.5 per cent to 15.1 per cent, while the rural index increased to 12.8 per cent in April from 12.0 per cent in March.

Meanwhile, the bureau in the PMS price watch for April, which was also released on Monday, put the average price at which Nigerians bought the product at N162.82 per litre.

The N162.82 per litre represents an increase of N27.13 over the N135.69 per litre, which the product was bought for on the average in March.

The report, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent by the NBS, is based on the actual amount spent by households to purchase petrol across the federation.

According to the report, consumers in Imo state paid the highest amount of N203.48 to buy a litre of the product.

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