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Nigeria inflation was unchanged in July, ending a seven-month period of acceleration that pushed the rate outside the central bank’s target band.
Consumer prices rose 9.2 percent from a year ago, the National Bureau of
Statistics said in an e-mailed report on Wednesday. The inflation rate rose 0.7 percent in the month.
The Central Bank of Nigeria kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 13 percent in July even as inflation breached the target range of 6 percent to 9 percent in the previous month. While Governor Godwin Emefiele said he was “concerned about the gradual but steady increase in headline inflation,” pressure was mainly coming from rising food and energy costs, which he said were temporary.
Food prices rose 10 percent in July from a year ago, the same pace as in June, the statistics office said.
Inflation has been fueled by the naira’s 7.8 percent slump against the dollar this year.