Inflation climbs, bureau says report
Traders sell foodstuff at a market. Photo|File
What you need to know:
- Consumers paid more to obtain goods and services in December when compared with November, following the increase of the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Dar es Salaam. Annual headline inflation rose to 3.3 per cent in December 2018, up from 3 per cent the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics has reported.
“The increase in the headline inflation explains that, the speed of price change for commodities for the year ended December, 2018 has increased compared to the speed of the price change recorded for the year ended November, 2018,” notes the report.
According to the report, the overall index climbed to 112.76 in December 2018, up from 109.21 in December 2017.
The inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages for December increased to 1.1 per cent from 0.4 per cent in November 2018.
The annual inflation rate for food consumed at home and away from home also increased to 2.6 per cent in December 2018 from 2.0 per cent the previous month.
However, the 12-month index change for non-food products slightly increased to 5.4 per cent from 5.3 per cent during the same period.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from November 2018 to December 2018 increased by 0.5 per cent compared with a 0.3 per cent rise in November 2018 from October, 2018. The overall index increased to 112.76 from 112.17 during the same period.
The increase in the overall index was mainly attributed to price rises for food and non-food items.
Some food items that contributed to such an increase included maize grains by 5.5 per cent, maize flour by 1.2 per cent, sorghum flour by 4.9 per cent, cassava flour by 6.6 per cent, meat by 0.9 per cent and vegetables by 3.1 per cent.
Non-food items that contributed to such an increase included garments for men and women by 0.6 per cent, garments for children by 0.7 per cent, petrol by 1.7 per cent, diesel by 0.9 per cent, food and drinks in the restaurants by 0.7 per cent, accommodation services by 0.9 per cent and personal care by 0.6 per cent.
Economists say headline inflation is the raw inflation figure reported through CPI, which calculates the cost to purchase a fixed basket of goods, as a way of determining how much inflation is occurring in the broad economy.
