Maravi

Inflation rate rises to 14.3%

Inflation rate rises to 14.3%
Written by Florence Bupe
Tuesday, September 01, 2009 4:16:54 PM

ZAMBIA’S annual inflation rate has recorded a 0.3 percentage point increase in August to 14.3 per cent, the Central Statistics Office announced yesterday.
The increase in the rate of inflation was attributed to the hike in electricity tariffs that was effected on August 1. The inflation rate had slightly declined in July to 14 per cent.

Releasing the latest inflation rate at a press briefing, CSO director Efreda Chulu said between August 2008 and August 2009, the annual inflation rates increased for clothing, rent and fuel, among other items.

“Of the total 14.3 per cent annual inflation in August 2009, food products in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) accounted for 7.2 percentage points, while non-food products in the CPI accounted for a total of 7.1 percentage points,” said Chulu.

However, the annual food inflation rate declined by 0.3 percentage points to 14.6 per cent in August from 14.9 per cent in July, while the non-food inflation rate stood at 13.9 per cent against 13.1 per cent in July.

In terms of international trade, Zambia recorded a trade surplus valued at K441.8 billion in July 2009. This means that the country exported more in value terms than it imported.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) was Zambia’s largest export destination, accounting for 20.7 and 21.3 per cent in July and June, 2009, respectively.

And according to the 2008/ 2009 Crop Forecasting Survey (CFS), 995, 343 small and medium scale households grew maize during the farming season under review.

The largest number of households that grew maize was reported in Eastern Province, while Lusaka Province recorded the lowest. Eastern Province had the largest number of farmers using recycled and local maize seed with 32.2 per cent, followed by Western Province with 14 per cent.

Labels: INFLATION

posted by MrK @ 3:16 PM