- No plan to establish price control board – Tinubu
Nigeria’s galloping inflation hits 29.90% in January 2024 National Bureau of Statistics in its latest inflation report said Nigeria’s galloping inflation rate for January 2024 has surged to 29.90%, marking a significant increase from the 28.92% recorded in the preceding month.
The NBS data show a galloping uptick in the headline inflation rate for January 2024 by 0.98% points when compared with December 2023’s figures.
According to the NBS, a year-on-year comparison, the inflation rate for January 2023 stood at 21.82%, showcasing a considerable leap of 8.08% points by January 2024, underscoring an escalated headline inflation rate over the same period in the preceding year.
A closer examination on a month-on-month basis illustrates that the headline inflation rate for January 2024 ascended to 2.64%, outpacing the 2.29% observed in December 2023 by 0.35% points.
This increment elucidates a heightened rise in the average price level for January 2024 relative to the increase noted in December 2023, highlighting the growing inflationary pressures within the nation’s economy.
The NBS reports a significant surge in the food inflation rate for January 2024, reaching a year-on-year high of 35.41%.
This marks a substantial 11.10%-point increase from the 24.32% observed in January 2023, highlighting a pronounced rise in the cost of food items.
The key drivers of this inflationary pressure include notable price hikes in essential food commodities such as bread and cereals, potatoes, yams and other tubers, oils and fats, fish, meat, fruits, as well as coffee, tea, and cocoa.
In a more granular month-on-month analysis, the food inflation rate for January 2024 escalated to 3.21%, which is 0.49% points above the rate recorded in December 2023 (2.72%).
This increase can be attributed to the accelerated rate of price rises in potatoes, yams and other tubers, bread and cereals, fish, meat, tobacco, and vegetables.
According to NBS the average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending in January 2024 surged to 28.91%, representing a significant 7.38%-point increase from the 21.53% annual rate of change recorded in January 2023.
This data underscores the escalating cost pressures within the food sector, affecting the overall inflationary landscape and impacting the cost of living for households across Nigeria.
The NBS delineates a marked increase in the Core inflation rate for January 2024, which ascended to 23.59% on a year-on-year basis.
This represents a significant uplift of 4.71% points from the 18.88% noted in January 2023. The Core inflation metric, known for excluding the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, offers a glimpse into the underlying inflationary trends minus the external price shocks from these sectors.
The inflationary pressures within this core category were most pronounced in the costs associated with passenger transport by road, medical services, actual and imputed rentals for housing, pharmaceutical products, accommodation services, and passenger transport by air, among others.
These areas witnessed the highest price increases, reflecting the broad-based nature of inflationary pressures beyond food and energy sectors.
On a month-on-month basis, the Core Inflation rate for January 2024 was 2.24%, marking an increase from the 1.82% observed in December 2023 by 0.42% points.
This increment signifies a continued acceleration in the price levels of non-volatile and non-energy items as the month progressed.
Furthermore, the analysis over a 12-month period ending in January 2024 reveals an average annual inflation rate of 21.15% for the core index, up by 4.74% points from the 16.41% recorded in January 2023. This uptrend underscores a sustained rise in the core inflation rate, highlighting persistent inflationary pressures in the segments of the economy unaffected by agricultural or energy price volatilities.
The NBS data show a significant year-on-year upsurge in the urban inflation rate for January 2024, which stood at 31.95%.
This rate is a considerable 9.40% points increase from the 22.55% recorded in January 2023, pointing to a stark acceleration in inflation within urban centres.
The urban inflation rate in January 2024 escalated to 2.72%, marking a 0.30%-point rise over December 2023’s rate of 2.42%. This increment reflects a quicker pace of price increases in urban areas at the start of the year.
According to NBS the corresponding twelve-month average for the urban inflation rate as of January 2024 was 27.01%, showcasing a 7.10%-point jump from the 19.91% reported in January 2023.
This data signifies a notable elevation in the average price levels within urban locales over a year, underscoring the intensifying inflationary pressures that urban residents are grappling with.
In rural inflation dynamics, the NBS report illuminates that January 2024 witnessed a rural inflation rate of 28.10% on a year-on-year basis.
This figure marks a 6.97 percentage point ascent from the 21.13% noted in January 2023, signaling a substantial inflationary uptrend in rural locales over the period.
On a month-on-month analysis, the rural inflation rate for January 2024 edged up to 2.57%, representing a 0.40 percentage point increase from the 2.17% registered in December 2023.
This uptick underscores a more rapid inflationary pace in rural areas at the onset of the year.
Furthermore, the twelve-month average rural inflation rate as of January 2024 stood at 23.85%, which is 5.01 percentage points higher than the 18.84% documented in January 2023.
This statistic reflects a pronounced escalation in the average price levels within rural communities over the year, highlighting the sustained inflationary pressures that increasingly impact the cost of living in these areas.
No plan to establish price control board, food importation says Tinubu
However, President Bola Tinubu says he will not set up any board to regulate prices of food commodities in the country.
“What I will not do is to set a price control board. I will not also approve the importation of food,” Tinubu said at a meeting with 36 state governors, attended by the Vice-President, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the DSS, and some ministers at the State House in Abuja on Thursday.
His comments come days after Vice President Kashim Shettima hinted at plans to establish a National Commodity Board to curtail the escalating food inflation in Nigeria.
The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed the details of Tinubu’s discussion in a statement on Thursday.
While declaring open a two-day high-level strategic meeting on climate change, food systems and resource mobilisation at Presidential Villa, the Vice President said the Federal Government will tackle price volatility by “establishing a National Commodity Board.”
The board will be empowered to “continually assess and regulate food prices, maintaining a strategic food reserve for stabilising prices of crucial grains and other food items,” he explained.
But Tinubu affirmed that his administration would not set up any such board.
Rather, it is evolving home-grown solutions to address the nation’s food security challenges by setting up schemes to support local production and discourage all forms of rent-seeking associated with food importation.
On security, Tinubu approved the establishment of a committee comprising state governors and Federal Government representatives to, among other things, explore the modalities for establishing state police.
He stated, “My position at this meeting is that we must move aggressively and establish a committee to look critically at the issues raised, including the possibility of establishing state police.
“From Kano, we have read reports about large-scale hoarding of food in some warehouses. The National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services should coordinate very closely and ensure that security agencies in the states inspect such warehouses with follow-up action.
“We must ensure that speculators, hoarders, and rent seekers are not allowed to sabotage our efforts in ensuring the wide availability of food to all Nigerians. What I will not do is to set a price control board. I will not also approve the importation of food.”
Tinubu reasoned that his administration could get Nigerians out of the dire food crisis “because importation will allow rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense.”
Instead, the Federal Government would support farmers with schemes enabling them to farm and grow more food for everyone in the country.
“We must also look at the rapid but thoughtful implementation of our livestock development and management plans, including dairy farming and others,” the President added.
He also endorsed the training and equipping of forest rangers by sub-national governments to safeguard human and natural resources in local communities.
Tinubu urged the governors to trust the Central Bank of Nigeria with the management of the country’s monetary policy, emphasizing the importance of allowing designated institutions to fulfill their mandate effectively.
He said the “Cacophony of postulations” on the fluctuation of foreign exchange rates was unduly affecting the market negatively.
“Every one of us cannot be an expert. If we have given someone an assignment, let us allow them to do it. If they cannot do it, then we find a way to quickly get them out of the system.”
The President asked the governors to always make the welfare and prosperity of the people a priority of their development programmes, assuring them that the Federal Government would continue to work diligently to improve the nation’s revenue profile.
At the meeting, Tinubu and the governors also emphasized the importance of working together to address issues of insecurity, food security, and out-of-school children.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum thanked the President for convening the meeting.
They affirmed the governors’ commitment to partnering closely with the Federal Government.
