Bread and sugar lovers have a reason to smile following price reductions for these items. A kilogramme of bread now costs between Rwf900 and Rwf1,300, depending on the brand or whether one buys bread from an ordinary shop or supermarket. 

This is a reduction from up to Rwf1,500 last month before the implementation of tax waivers on wheat imports that came into effect this month. Sugar is also down at Rwf700 in ordinary shops from Rwf800 recently.

Wheat flour is unchanged though at Rwf1,500 per kilo, while prices of some foodstuffs and other commodities have gone up marginally across City of Kigali markets. 

A kilogramme of beans now costs Rwf500 in Kabeza compared to Rwf450 last week, bananas (plantains) are at Rwf180 from Rwf150. However, a person buying a whole cluster of banana plantains pays Rwf30 less compared to those buying in kilos. 

Adam Bizimana, a vendor in Kabeza, attributed the increase to the dry season, saying it is hard to secure enough supplies from up-country. A kilogramme of peas is up by about Rwf200 in Kimironko market, from Rwf800 recently to Rwf1,000. 

Though prices for foodstuffs like sweet potatoes, cassava and Irish potatoes are stable, vendors expect them to go up soon "since we are in the driest season of the year. 

"This will affect output in almost all the major producing areas across the country,” Innocent Nkurunziza, a vendor in Nyabugogo market, said.