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Inflation in Nigeria has risen to its highest rate in more than 27 years.
The National Bureau of Statistics said the rate that prices were increasing over the year was up for the 12th straight month. On average, the price of goods has risen to just under 29% compared to a year ago.
The statistics office said the rise in the cost of basic foodstuffs, including bread, fruit and eggs, was even higher.
Analysts say higher fuel prices and a weaker currency – the naira – have also contributed to the rise.
When he took office last May, President Bola Tinubu immediately embarked on a series of bold economic reforms. He scrapped a costly but popular fuel subsidy and devalued the currency to try to revive growth.
Despite its oil riches, Nigeria is unable to refine crude locally to meet demands.
The four state-owned refineries are moribund, forcing the country to import refined petroleum products which are then sold at a price fixed by the government.
So while people in the UK and Ghana, for example, were forking out £1.44 ($1.80) or 14 cedis ($1.24) respectively for a litre of petrol in May, Nigerians paid 185 naira ($0.40) – despite all three countries buying it from the same international market.
This has been the practice in Nigeria since the 1970s and most residents have grown up insulated from paying the actual price of petrol.
Additional Source: BBC
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