Nigeria inflation rises on fuel subsidy removal

Reuters

20 February 2012

Nigeria inflation rises on fuel subsidy removal

* Headline inflation 12.6 pct in Jan vs 10.3 pct in Dec

* Subsidy removal pushes up transport, food costs

* Cbank expects subsidy-linked inflation to be short term

ABUJA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Nigerian inflation was higher than expected in January, data showed on Monday after the government removed fuel import subsidies and then only partially reinstated them, sending prices higher.

The government scrapped the subsidies on Jan. 1 but was forced to partially reinstate them to quell protests over the costs of petrol. Fuel prices fell but stayed higher than they had been before the subsidy was removed.

Nigeria's consumer inflation rose to 12.6 percent year-on-year in January, compared with 10.3 percent the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

Analysts polled by Reuters expected January headline inflation to rise to 11.75 percent.