Nigeria's headline inflation rate fell slightly for the second month in May, to 22.97% year-on-year from 23.71% in April, data from its statistics agency showed on Monday.

Africa's most populous country has been battling high inflation which soared to repeated 28-year peaks last year, spurred by President Bola Tinubu's removal of petrol and electricity subsidies and devaluation of the naira after he came to power in 2023.

After a rebasing exercise where the statistics bureau updated its base year to 2024, from 2009, and reweighted the inflation basket, the annual inflation rate fell sharply from 34.80% in December to 24.48% in January.

Food inflation, a key driver of the headline rate, stood at 21.14% year on year in May compared with 21.26% the month before.

Last month, at its second rate-setting meeting of the year, the central bank held its key interest rate for a second consecutive time, following six hikes last year, citing improved macroeconomic indicators supporting medium-term price moderation.

Reuters