Nigeria's inflation crosses 28%, reaching new 18-year high

Nigeria's inflation rate reached a new 18-year high in November, matching a record level from 2005, potentially prompting the central bank to consider raising interest rates. Consumer prices surged by 28.2% compared to the same period a year earlier, up from 27.3% in October, according to National Bureau of Statistics data. The 

Bloomberg survey of economists had a median estimate of a 27.9% increase. Prices rose by 2.1% within the month. Compared to November 2022, the year-on-year headline inflation rate saw a substantial increase of 6.73 percentage points, rising from 21.47% the same month the previous year.

On a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate for November 2023 was 2.09%, indicating a 0.35% increase from the October 2023 rate of 1.73%. This implies that the rate of average price level increase in November 2023 exceeded that observed in October 2023. The elevated inflation figures suggest potential challenges for Nigeria's central bank in managing monetary policy to address rising price levels.