The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has commended the December Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation figures just released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
IMF gave the commendation Thursday night in a statement made available to The Shield Online.
In the press release titled IMF statement on Nigeria’s December 2025 Inflation release and methodological changes (January 15, 2026), the Fund said “We welcome the December Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation figures released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which show an easing of inflation that, if sustained, will help reduce cost-of-living pressures and support macroeconomic stability.”
it added that “The release reflects a welcome change in methodology that aligns Nigeria’s CPI calculation with international best practices, as set out by ECOWAS and the IMF’s 2020 CPI Manual.
“Under the new methodology, the NBS links the old CPI to the rebased and reweighted index using the full year of 2024 as the reference period, making the data more stable and comparable over time.
“This change leads to a revision of the 2025 inflation numbers but continues to show a trend of inflation coming down throughout the year.”