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Nigeria's annual inflation rate hits 28-year high: 33.95%


FILE - A man receives a bag of food from the government during the distribution of food in Abuja by the government to cushion the high cost of living, Sept. 20, 2022. Nigeria's annual inflation rose to a 28-year high of 33.95% in May.
FILE - A man receives a bag of food from the government during the distribution of food in Abuja by the government to cushion the high cost of living, Sept. 20, 2022. Nigeria's annual inflation rose to a 28-year high of 33.95% in May.

Nigeria's annual inflation rose to a 28-year high of 33.95% in May, official data showed Saturday, worsening hardships that have fueled public anger against President Bola Tinubu's economic reforms.

It was the 18th straight month that inflation has risen, up from 33.69% a month earlier.

Price pressures have been spurred by Tinubu's reforms, chiefly slashing petrol and electricity subsidies and devaluing the naira currency twice within a year.

Labor unions, which suspended a strike called to demand a new minimum wage, have argued that the reforms hurt the poor and have left millions grappling with the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

Data published by the National Bureau of Statistics showed food and non-alcoholic beverages continued to be the biggest contributor to inflation in May.

Food inflation, which accounts for the bulk of Nigeria's inflation basket, rose to 40.66% from 40.53% the previous month.

High food prices and a weaker naira are the main drivers of inflation in Nigeria, analysts say.

The central bank raised interest rates in May for the third time this year in response to the continued rise in inflation.

Governor Olayemi Cardoso of the Central Bank of Nigeria has indicated that rates will stay high for as long as necessary to bring inflation down.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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