The high cost of food stuffs in Nigeria drove up it’s annual inflation rates from 11.4 per cent in February to almost a four years high of 12.8 per cent in March, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
A report lifted from the bureau’s website revealed that Africa’s biggest economy was faced with its worst economic crisis in decades fueled by the collapse in prices of crude oil, which has slashed government revenues, weakened the currency and caused growth to slow. The economy grew 2.8 percent last year, its slowest pace in almost a decade.
Food prices, which accounted for the bulk of the inflation basket, rose by 1.4 per cent points to 12.7 percent 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.
NBS expected inflation to end in a double digits of about 10.16 per cent, above the central bank’s targeted upper limit of nine per cent. The price index ended at 9.55 per cent last year.
World Bank had forecast a drop in growth rate for most of African countries, particularly Nigeria, underpinning the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that had to change its predictions twice within two months.
The drastic drop in prices of crude oil has forced the central government to shift its focus from oil revenue to other sources, including taxation, while also working at the same time to boost revenue from the non oil sectors – agriculture, solid minerals and tourism, to help shore up revenues.
Minister of Finance Mrs.kemi Adeosun had also revealed at different fora that the country was considering both local and foreign bonds to augment the 2016 budget of deficit which was estimated to about six trillion naira.
