The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 0.3 per cent from 0.5 per cent in March as air fares dropped by 14 per cent month-on-month.
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The sub-index increased by 13.2 percent in April, up by 0.4 percentage point from March as all major food groups increased at a faster pace driven by higher prices in fish, bread/cereals and vegetables groups. “The index increased by 13.4% in March, roughly 1.2% points from rates recorded in March”. For the 12 months through April, the core CPI has increased 2.1%, down from a 2.2% increase in March.
Economists expected total prices to rise 0.3 percent from the month before, according to the median Bloomberg survey estimate of forecasts that ranged from advances of 0.2 percent to 0.7 percent. Housing construction picked up in April, with the Commerce Department reporting a 6.6 percent increase in activity.
Food prices also increased last month, by 0.2%, after declining by 0.2% in March.
The Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) past year, pegged the naira at 197-199 per dollar and restricted trading in foreign currencies, making imports more costly for a nation that’s a net importer of food and refined fuel. “The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve month period ending in April 2016 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period was 10.2 per cent, higher from 9.8 per cent recorded in February”.
While the official price for gasoline was 86 naira last month “people were paying much more for fuel”, John Ashbourne, a London-based economist at Capital Economics Ltd., said by phone. A gallon of regular fell to as low as $1.72 nationally in February, but it’s now moved back above $2.25, figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show.
At the time the Fed said it would continue to monitor a number of factors, including inflation and economic performance, to determine if and when further rises were justified. The depreciation of sterling, which began last November, will also push up the price of imported goods.
Those were partly offset by 0.3% declines in the prices of apparel and new and used vehicles.
Inflation accelerated in April as a result of rising gasoline prices, while a core measure increased modestly.
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The Bank of England recently said it expected inflation to increase in the second half of the year. At this rate, inflation may 20 percent before the end of 2016.
