By Ngozi Onyeakusi—Just as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) predicted, inflation for the fourth time, consecutively, plunged downward to settle at 17.38 per cent (year- on- year) in July, 2021. Confirming the slide in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) yesterday, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that the drop indicates 0.37 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in June 2021, 17.75 per cent. NBS said prices of major items were on the rise, but at a slower rise than it did in June 2021. “The rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of milk, cheese and eggs, coffee, tea and cocoa, vegetables, bread and cereals, soft drinks, and meat”, NBS said. Cosequently, the bureau, said increases were recorded in all divisions that yielded the headline index. “On month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.93 percent in July 2021. This was 0.13 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in June 2021 (1.06) per cent. The per centage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending July 2021 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 16.30 percent, showing 0.37 per cent point rise from 15.93 percent recorded in June 2021”.