Inflation rate jumps to 24.08 %
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that the nation’s headline inflation rate rose year-on-year (YoY) by 1.29 percentage points from 22.79 per cent in June 2023 to 24.08 per cent in July.
The NBS, who stated this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report for July 2023 on Tuesday, said this surpassed analysts’ projections of a 23 per cent threshold for the review period.
The Bureau said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate stood at 2.89 per cent in July which was 0.76 per cent higher than the 2.13 per cent recorded in June 2023.
The month’s rise in the rate is the sixth consecutive increase in the headline index this year. This rise is attributed to the complete removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of the official exchange rate.
In the Year-on-year Index, Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed the most increase of 12.47 per cent to the sharp rise in inflation. These are followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel at 4.03 per cent, and clothing and footwear at 1.84 per cent.
The food inflation rate recorded an increase, rising by 1.73 per cent to 26.98 per cent in July 2023, from 25.25 per cent recorded in the previous month and 4.97 per cent points higher than the 22.02 per cent recorded in July 2022.
