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Inflation reaches 11 months height to hit 17.71% in Nigeria as food prices hit roof

Published

2 years ago

June 15, 2022

Nigeria’s official public data source, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) the country’s inflation rose to its highest level in 11 months, rising from 16.82% recorded in April 2022 to 17.71%.

The new figure is according to the recently released Consumer Price Index report (PDF), released by the NBS.

On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate increased to 1.78 percent in May 2022, this is also 0.02 percent higher than the rate recorded in April 2022 (1.76) percent. The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending May 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period is 16.45 percent, showing a 0.95 percent increase compared to the 15.50 percent recorded in May 2021.

Inflation refers to the rise in the prices of most goods and services of daily or common use, such as food, clothing, housing, recreation, transport, consumer staples, etc. Inflation measures the average price change in a basket of commodities and services over time.

That is, your ₦500 now behaves like ₦450 (or less), by virtue of what you could buy or make payment for with it.

The composite food index rose to 19.50 percent in May 2022 on a year-on-year basis; it declined by 2.78 percent compared to 22.28 percent in May 2021. This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of Bread and cereals, Food products n.e.c, Potatoes, yam, and other tubers, Wine, Fish, Meat, and Oils.

The implication of the surge in the CPI, is that the purchasing power of Nigerians is eroded by the rising prices of food and services in the country and lately the price of diesel. This implies that the value of money is not worth as much as it was in the previous month.

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

16 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.