The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has lauded the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics showing that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has slashed to 22.97 percent in May 2025, from 23.71 percent in April 2025.
LCCI Director-General, Dr Chinyere Almona made this public in a press statement she signed on Tuesday.
She noted that the feat marks a positive, albeit modest, new shift in the country’s inflation trajectory after several months of persistent increases.
Almona pointed out that the marginal decline may have been driven by the consistent monetary tightening by the Central Bank, including interest rate adjustments and liquidity control mechanisms.
Still, LCCI advised that the improvement must be viewed cautiously, considering prevailing structural risks and looming food production and distribution shocks.
The Chamber lamented that the recent spate of herdsmen-farmers clashes in the middle-belt region and flooding disasters are negative signals capable of limiting food harvest this year.
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LCCI warned: “Logistics and supply chain risks also loom on the back of the current escalations in the Middle East and the deadlocked ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine. Importing fuel and other products may become more expensive as oil prices have risen due to unabating tensions and trade wars. These shocks pose significant risks to food availability and prices, which could drive food inflation – an essential component of the headline inflation index – in the third and fourth quarters of 2025”.
Against this background, the Chamber recommended a coordinated mix of fiscal and monetary policy actions, which include: reforms in the oil and gas sector which it noted have slowed down fuel price increases as recorded earlier in the year, adding that the Naira for crude and the mandated crude supply to local refineries should be sustained.
It advised CBN to maintain prudent monetary policy, while improving credit access to productive sectors, especially agriculture and manufacturing, to stimulate supply-side responses to inflation, advising that stoppage of government ways and means provisions should be sustained no matter the pressure.
Other recommendations stated: “There is an urgent need for the government to scale up support for dry season farming, irrigation infrastructure, and mechanization to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
“The government must remain focused on dealing with the challenges around food movement from the farms to the cities. Addressing inefficiencies in transporting goods – particularly food – from rural to urban markets can help lower market prices and reduce post-harvest losses.
“Government spending should prioritize critical sectors with high inflation pass-through, such as food, energy, and transport, while eliminating leakages and enhancing social safety nets for vulnerable households”.
Almona said while the easing inflation rate is a welcome development, Nigeria must not lose momentum in addressing the structural drivers of inflation, urging the government to act decisively in tackling insecurity, investing in resilient agricultural infrastructure, and improving policy coordination to ensure the current progress becomes sustainable and inclusive.
The Eagleonline reports that NBS on Monday, June 16, 2025 announced that Nigeria’s annual inflation rate eased to 22.97 percent in May from 23.71 percent in April 2025.
The agency explained that the May 2025 headline inflation rate decreased 0.74 percent compared to the April 2025 headline inflation rate.
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