Nigeria’s inflation rate for the month of January is poised to dip, one of the leading financial consulting firms in Nigeria, FSDH, has predicted.
FSDH, in its Inflation Watch report released on Thursday, February 1, 2018, the inflation will drop to 15.04 percent from 15.37 percent recorded in December 2017.
The firm said: “FSDH Research expects the inflation rate (year-on-year) to drop to 15.04 percent in January 2018 from 15.37 percent recorded in the month of December 2017.”
According to the report, the expected drop in the inflation rate is coming on the heels of a slower growth in the year on year Food Index in January 2018 than what was recorded in December 2017.
It said the January 2018 monthly Food Price Index (FPI) from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that the Index averaged 169.5 points. The Index was largely unchanged from the December 2017 figure.
The FPI was down by 0.18 percent, from the revised December 2017 figure but almost 3 percent below the corresponding period last year.
The movement in the food prices were in varying directions in January 2018. The cereal and vegetable oil prices appreciated while sugar and dairy prices depreciated.
The FAO Dairy Price Index depreciated by 2.44 percent in January. The prices of dairy products such as cheese and butter depreciated significantly during the period. The FAO Sugar Price Index dropped by 1.49 percent on the heels of favourable supply conditions in the main sugar producing regions in Brazil and increased exports availabilities.
The FAO Meat Index was marginally down by 0.60 percent on the backdrop of weak global import demand for poultry and pig meat.
Conversely, the FAO Cereal Price Index surged by 2.31 percent from the previous month. Wheat, maize and rice prices firmed up and were primarily responsible for the uptick in the value of the Index.
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index was up marginally by 0.33 percent, driven by the rise in palm oil prices which outweighed weakening prices for other oils.
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), according to its calendar, will release the inflation rate for the month of January 2018 on February 14, 2018.
