(Ecofin Agency) - The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that Nigeria’s annual inflation increased to 18.72% in January 2017 from the 18.55% recorded in December 2016.

According to the statistics office, the rise was mainly spurred by an increase in prices of food, transport and electricity.

In regards to food prices, “the Food Index increased to 17.82% (year-on-year) in January 2017, up by 0.43 per cent points from rate recorded in December 2016 (17.39%),” NBS reports adding that soft drinks recorded the slowest pace of increase (7.8% year-on-year).

The actual situation is particularly stressful for the country as 70% of its population lives on a dollar per day (United Nations’ estimates show). The soaring inflation is one out of many consequences of the recession, driven by naira’s devaluation and oil sales slump (Nigeria gets 70% of its revenues from oil sales), in which the nation plunged last year, its first in 25 years.

In order to pull the economy from recession and stimulate growth, President Buhari presented in December 2016, a N7.298 trillion naira ($23.97 billion) budget for 2017 to the National Assembly.

Anita Fatunji