Abuja — Nigeria’s headline consumer inflation slowed slightly in February, to 15.06% year-on-year from 15.10% in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.
It was the 11th consecutive monthly slowdown, though the declines were marginal in January and February.
The central bank, which resumed monetary policy easing with a small interest rate cut last month, has said it expects inflation to continue falling.
Food inflation which has been the main driver of headline inflation in Africa’s most populous country, picked up in February, to 12.12% year-on-year from 8.89% in January, the NBS said.
The agency recently adopted a revamped methodology, using a 12-month reference period instead of a single month.
The central bank says the lagged transmission of previous monetary tightening, exchange rate stability and enhanced food supply are helping bring down inflation.
*Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; editing: Alexander Winning – Reuters
