ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s double-digit inflation quickened to 15.92% in March, rising for a second straight month as prices for food and non-food items rose in Africa’s biggest economy, the statistics office said on Friday.
Inflation, which has been in double digits since 2016, rose from 15.70% in February, it said.
The price of diesel, which is used to power generators by most businesses in Nigeria, has more than doubled in the past month while economic analysts say the impact of the Ukraine war on local prices could be felt in the coming weeks.
Nigeria imports many key goods and services. A dollar shortage has put pressure on prices as the government introduced restrictions to support the currency.
Nigerian authorities have said persistent inflationary pressures are structural – linked to deficits and not solely to the money supply – and largely imported.
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh, Editing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, John Stonestreet and David Evans)
