The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the reduction in Nigeria’s headline month-on-month inflation rate for a third time in a row in May 2024 showed that the apex bank’s monetary policy tightening measures enacted this year have been having the intended effect.

Headline inflation decelerated in May to 2.14 per cent from a month earlier, slowing from 2.29 per cent in April and 3.02 per cent in March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The CBN, in a statement on Sunday, June 23, said the monthly inflation trend underscores conviction from members of the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that a combination of tighter monetary policy and appropriate coordinated fiscal measures from the federal government will prove effective in arresting the sharp increase in the cost of living that has afflicted Nigerians since the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic.

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“While year-on-year inflation has continued to inch higher, the monthly numbers are the all-important indicators isolating the impact since the CBN began raising interest rates in February this year,” it noted.

The CBN further quoted its Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, as saying: “Slowly but surely, the inflation tide is turning.

“While the numbers are not yet uniform for all measures, such as year-on-year across the entire country, we will continue to work diligently with coordinated policy measures to ensure that the worst of the inflationary cycle is behind us in the nearest future.”

The statement added that CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso has made tackling inflation his paramount mission as the essential path to achieving sustainable economic growth in the mid-to long-term and improving the standard of living for ordinary people.

The Star