Burundi inflation slows to 14.2 pct

Burundi’s year-on-year inflation rate fell to 14.2 per cent in September from 15.8 per cent in August as food prices rose more slowly on local markets, the country’s statistics board said on Friday.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Burundi’s year-on-year inflation rate fell to 14.2 per cent in September from 15.8 per cent in August as food prices rose more slowly on local markets, the country’s statistics board said on Friday.The price index for food rose at a slower pace of 9.7 per cent over the past twelve months to September from 12.8 per cent in August, the Institute of Economic Studies and Statistics (ISTEEBU) said in its monthly report.The coffee producer nation’s government in May suspended taxes on basic imported food such as beans, rice and potatoes to provide relief for a large number of Burundian citizens affected by soaring costs of essential commodities.But civil society organisations in the central African nation engaged in a campaign against high cost of living said they didn’t see any improvement on the daily life conditions of ordinary people due to that decision to lift taxes on food imports, after the government raised in July the consumption tax on beer, mineral water and other soft drinks to plug a $64 million revenue deficit on the 2012 budget