The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the lifting of petroleum products from Lagos-based Dangote Refinery will balance the cost of transportation and ease food inflation.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, the CBN governor Oluyemi Cardoso expressed optimism that the move will be a ease economic pressure significantly
The CBN chief also disclosed the committee’s decision to further increase the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) which measures interest rates by 50 basis points from 26.75% to 27.25% to moderate inflation rate which stands at 32.15%.
According to the Consumer Price Index report recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the headline inflation rate eased to 32.15% in August 2024, while food inflation stood at 37.52% in the same month.
The NBS said food inflation rate in August 2024 was 37.52% on an annual basis, which was 8.18% points higher compared to the 29.34% rate recorded in August 2023 .
The report attributed the rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis to increases in prices of food items like bread, rice, maize, grains, yam,vegetable oil, among others.