By Dickson Pat
Nigerian households have said that the astronomical increase in prices will weaken the economy and their purchasing power.
This is based on the April 2025 Household Expectations Survey of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
CBN said a significant majority or 71.2% of surveyed households, believe that the Nigerian economy would weaken if prices were to rise faster than the current rate.
Nigeria’s inflation rose to 24.23% in March 2025 following the Consumer Price Index ,CPI, rebasing.
“Unlike in the past, where the base year was 2009, the base year for the rebased CPI is 2024. Meaning, we are comparing prices in 2025 with prices in 2024 instead of 2009.
“Also, the CPI baskets are not the same”, said the National Bureau of Statistics ,NBS. Food prices also dropped from 39.8% to 26%, after the rebasing. The respondents argued that a drop in interest rates will lead to price reduction.
According to the CBN, most respondents or 49.4% of the households, favoured a decrease in interest rate.
The overall outlook for consumers reveals that they are pessimistic due to their family financial situation and economic conditions.
According to CBN, the index stood at -15% in April, showing a worse outlook compared to March 2025, which stood at -6.1%.
In April, the report said households perceive prices to be relatively high at -22.8 index points.
They also believe that prices will rise with a pessimistic index point of -26.7 in May; -29.5 and -25.6 points.
