Nigeria’s inflation softened for the first time in 11 months in December ahead of presidential elections next month.
The inflation rate fell to 21.3% from 21.5% in November, according to data published on the National Bureau of Statistics’ website on Monday.
The median estimate of four economists in a Bloomberg survey was 21.8%.
The slowdown was driven by a deceleration in food-price growth to 23.7% in December from 24.1% in the previous month, while core inflation, a reflection of underlining price pressures, quickened to 18.49% from 18.2%. Prices rose 1.7% in the month.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary policy committee, which has hiked the key rate at four straight meetings by a cumulative 500 basis points, is due to hold its first rate decision meeting of the year next week, the only one before elections on February 25.
– Bloomberg