The National Bureau of Statistics on Friday released the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, with the rate rising from 11.14 per cent in July to 11.23 per cent in August.
The bureau, in the report that was made available to our correspondent, stated that this was the first year-on-year rise in headline inflation following 18 consecutive declines in the inflation rate.
The report stated, “The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, increased by 11.23 per cent (year-on-year) in August 2018. This is 0.09 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in July 2018 (11.14 per cent) and represents the first year-on-year rise in headline inflation following eighteenth consecutive disinflation in headline inflation.
“Increases were recorded in all divisions that yielded the headline index. On month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.05 per cent in August 2018, down by 0.08 per cent points from the rate recorded in July 2018 (1.13 per cent).”
The NBS report noted that the urban inflation rate increased by 11.67 per cent year-on-year in August 2018 from 11.66 per cent recorded in July, while the rural inflation rate increased by 10.84 per cent in August from 10.83 per cent in July.
On a month-on-month basis, the NBS report stated that the urban index rose by one per cent in August, down by 0.23 basis points from 1.23 per cent recorded in July, while the rural index also rose by 0.96 per cent in August, down by 0.22 percentage points from the 1.18 per cent rate recorded in July.
