Trend mixed for food prices

What you need to know:

According to a report by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, wholesale prices of maize and sorghum rose while those of rice, beans, potatoes and finger millet fell.

Dar es Salaam. Wholesale food prices showed a mixed trend in February compared with those in the previous month.

According to a report by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, wholesale prices of maize and sorghum rose while those of rice, beans, potatoes and finger millet fell.

Generally, the report has shown that there were lower prices movement for major food commodities during the period.

A 100-kilo bag of maize was sold at Sh58,834/30 in February, up from Sh49,807/50 in January 2018.

However, on an annual basis, maize prices dropped from Sh105,107/60 in February last year.

A 100-kilo bag of sorghum was sold at Sh117,237/90 in February 2018 from Sh76,435/60 in January.

The rising trend was also experienced on an annual basis as the report shows the price climbed from Sh100,626/30 in February last year.

The report which took into consideration a Bank of Tanzania monthly economic review for March, which also showed wholesale rice prices decreased to Sh186,509/20 in February from Sh193,578/10 in January this year.

Beans prices fell to Sh170,566/80 in February from Sh178,823/70 in January while wholesale potato prices slowed to Sh71,506/80 in February from Sh76,789/40 in January this year.

Wholesale prices of finger millet decreased to Sh147,339/80 in February 2018 from Sh154,335 the previous month.

However, wholesale prices of finger millet increased in February this year when compared with Sh81,774.2 in February last year.