Inflation slows to 3.3 per cent

Last month’s headline inflation declined to 3.25 per cent from 4.8 per cent in February, data from the national statistics body has showed.Food and non-alcoholic beverages’ prices rose by 1.65 per cent in the month, while clothing and footwear prices dropped by 0.37 per cent. The costs of communication fell 0.25 per cent, the data indicated.Amb. Claver Gatete, the Minister of Finance, attributed the drop to good monetary and fiscal policies, plus a good crop season.The underlying inflation rate, excluding fresh food and energy, increased by 0.12 per cent compared to the previous month, and increased by 4.8 per cent compared to the same period last year.The annual average underlying inflation rate was 3.6 per cent last month, down from 3.7 per cent in February. The institution noted that the rise in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages was primarily due to the increase of 4.7 and 10.6 percentage points of vegetables and fish prices, respectively. The ‘local goods’ prices increased by 3.21 on annual change with a monthly change of 0.73, while prices of the imported products increased by 3.4 per cent, year-onyear, with a monthly change of 0.6.The prices of fresh products declined by 3.8 per cent compared to the same period last year.The overall rural general index was down 1.6 per cent over the previous month. In annual change, it dropped by 3.1 per cent to 6.6 per cent, down from 9.7 per cent in the previous month.

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Inflation slows to 3.3 per cent