Food, Others Drive Increase in Inflation as FCCPC Mentions Cartel Influencing Cost

• According to a recent report by the NBS, there was a 0.24% point increase in the headline inflation rate from May 2024 to June 2024
• This came after an investigation revealed that the increase is due to market cartels and transportation issues
• The headline inflation rate increased by 11.40% points from the previous year to 22.79%, as published in June 2023

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over 3-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

The headline inflation rate, according to a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics, climbed to 34.19% in June 2024 from 33.95% in May 2024.

According to the report, the headline inflation rate for June 2024 increased by 0.24% points from May 2024 to June 2024.

The recent rate was 11.40% points higher year over year than the 22.79% figure that was reported in June 2023.

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This indicates that in June 2024, the headline inflation rate increased year over year compared to the same month the previous year, which was June 2023.

In addition, June 2024's headline inflation rate was 2.31% on a month-over-month basis, 0.17% higher than May 2024's rate of 2.14%.

This means that in the month of June 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in May 2024. The contributions of items on the Divisional level to the increase in the Headline index are presented below.

In a recent report however, Legit.ng reported that the country’s growing food prices are due to market cartels and transportation issues, according to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

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Speaking on the development, the commission's acting executive vice chairman, Adamu Abdullahi in a Daily Trust report said,

“FCCPC conducted a market survey and we also did our market study and found out the current rise in food prices are due to some factors. One is the transportation of food items from one point to another.

“Also, we discovered that every market has associations that are now turning into cartels determining prices of food items and also deciding who sells in the market. So, if you as a farmer bring your yam from Benue State you won’t be allowed to enter a market in Abuja to sell and they also meet to fix prices.”

Nigeria's Inflation rate to hit 33.95%

Legit.ng reported that as evidenced by the rising cost of goods and services, Nigeria's inflation rate rose to 33.95% in May 2024, according to the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

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According to the NBS Consumer Price Index report published on Saturday, June 15, this marks a 0.26% increase from the April 2024 headline inflation rate of 33.69%.

The data shows that on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.54% higher than the 22.41% recorded in May 2023.

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng