Nigerian inflation slowed to 8.4 percent in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
The inflation rate of Africa’s largest oil producer declined from 9 percent in May, the Abuja-based statistics office said yesterday in an e-mailed report. The median estimate of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was 8.8 percent. Prices climbed 0.6 percent in the month.
The inflation rate fell below 10 percent in January, meeting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s target for the first time since August 2011, as the impact of last year’s higher fuel prices waned. The central bank kept its policy rate at a record 12 percent for the 10th consecutive meeting in May on concern spending was poised to rise after the military began an offensive against Islamist militants in the northeast.
The central bank may further raise its policy rate if government spending increases before elections in 2015, central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi said last month.