"Inflation climbed to four-year high 12.8% in March" - national stats agency

folarin okunola

April 14, 2016 3:30 PM

The country is facing its worst economic crisis in recent times fueled by the collapse of crude oil prices, which has slashed government revenues

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that Nigeria's annual inflation rose to a near four-year high of 12.8 percent in March, up from 11.4 percent in February driven by a rise in food prices.

The country is facing its worst economic crisis in recent times fueled by the collapse of crude oil prices, which has slashed government revenues, weakened the Naira, and caused growth to slow.

READ: Currency steadies against dollar, still drops against Pound Sterling, Euro [April 12, 2016]

The Nigerian economy grew just 2.8 percent last year, the slowest it has in decades. Food prices which account for most of the inflation bracket, rose by 1.4 percent points to 12.7 percent points in March, the bureau said on its website.

"The higher price level was reflected in faster increases across all divisions," the bureau said in a report, according to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek.

The NBS expects the inflation rate to settle at 10.16 percent by the end of the year, above the Central of Nigeria's target upper limit of nine percent. Last year, the price index ended at 9.55 percent.

folarin okunola