Nigeria’s inflation rate rose for the second straight month in October, advancing to 33.88% in annual terms from 32.70% in September mainly due to higher food prices, official data showed on Friday.
Inflation quickened sharply in the second half of last year after President Bola Tinubu devalued the country’s naira currency and cut subsidies to try to lift economic growth and shore up public finances.
It started to ease in July this year as the impact of the naira devaluation began to fade, but a series of petrol price increases and severe flooding that has wiped out crops again spurred price pressures, exacerbating the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades in Africa’s most populous nation.
A report by the National Bureau of Statistics said food inflation reached 39.16% year-on-year in October from 37.77% the previous month, caused by price rises for staples such as rice, maize, bread, potatoes and cooking oil.
Torrential rain and floods in 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states this year have destroyed more than 1.5 million hectares of cropland, making millions go hungry and causing mass displacement.
The central bank has hiked interest rates five times this year to try to get inflation under control. It is due to announce its final rate decision of the year on Nov. 26.