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Nigeria May Slow Pace of Rate Hikes as Inflation Eases

  • Inflation ebbs for first time in 11 months ahead of Feb. vote
  • Slowdown driven by a deceleration in food-price growth
Shoppers at the Oshodi market in Lagos.

Shoppers at the Oshodi market in Lagos.

Photographer: Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg
Updated on

Nigeria’s inflation softened for the first time in 11 months in December, raising the chance that the central bank will slow the pace of interest rate hikes ahead of presidential elections next month. 

The inflation rate fell to 21.3% from 21.5% in November, according to data published on the National Bureau of Statistics’s website on Monday. The median estimate of four economists in a Bloomberg survey was 21.8%.