Nigeria’s headline consumer inflation fell for the second month in a row in August, to 32.15% year-on-year from 33.40% in July, data from its bureau of statistics showed on Monday.
July marked the first month in well over a year that inflation had slowed in Africa’s most populous nation, as the effects of a currency devaluation started to fade.
But analysts say August’s further slowdown could be short-lived, after the price of petrol was increased twice in September, angering citizens who are grappling with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
Price increases have been stoked by President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove a decades-old fuel subsidy, devalue the naira currency and hike electricity tariffs. The reforms are aimed at lifting economic growth and shoring up public finances.