Rwanda’s inflation was recorded at 0.5 per cent in October, unchanged compared to the same month last year, the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) monthly report released yesterday indicates. This was however a month-on-month increase, up from 2 per cent registered in September. The underlying inflation rate, excluding fresh food and energy, increased by 0.8 per cent reflecting an annual average inflation rate of 2.8 per cent The country’s CPI also decreased by 2.1 percent on an annual basis, and 0.3 percent on a monthly basis. This was mainly due to the rising prices of clothing and footwear that rose by 7.9 per cent, education component that inched up 7.1 per cent and the increasing cost of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels of 2.3 per cent, Oscar Sibomana, the NISR principal research statistician in charge of prices, explained. The biggest negative contribution came from food and non-alcoholic beverages that registered only 1.4 percentage points, Sibomana noted. Annually, ‘local’ goods prices decreased by 0.2 per cent, while those of imported goods were up by 3.2 per cent over the reporting period. For fresh products prices dropped by 11.2 per cent, while the energy increased by 0.8 per cent. This therefore means that the general index excluding fresh products and energy increased by 3.5 per cent. business@newtimes.co.rw
