Inflation rises to 13.7 per cent in August
Consumer inflation
rose to 13.7 percent year-on-year in August from 13.0 percent the
previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.
Growth in food
prices, which form the bulk of the inflation index basket, also rose to
15.1 percent year-on-year from 14.0 percent in July. The Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC), which has repeatedly voiced concern about
inflation, is due to meet on Tuesday to review the country’s benchmark
interest rate, which has been on hold at 6.0 percent for more than a
year.
Central Bank Governor, Lamido Sanusi, told Reuters, on Thursday,
that weak bank lending was a “major worry,” and that although he wants
single-digit inflation by the end of the year, the central bank will do
nothing to jeopardise economic growth. He noted, however, that higher
government spending, with elections due next January, and the
establishment of the Asset Management Company to soak up bad bank loans
should help put more money into the system, meaning the inflation risk
was not zero.
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