Fri, 26 May 2017 22:20:36 +0000
By MAILESI BANDA
THE annual inflation rate as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index for the month of May decreased to 6.5 percent from the 6.7 percent recorded last month, Central Statistical Office (CSO) director of census and statistics John Kalumbi has announced.
Mr. Kalumbi said this meant that on average the price of goods increased by 6.5 percent.
Speaking during the presentation of the CSO monthly bulletin for the month of May, he said the movement of the consumer price indicated a steady increase in the prices of commodities during the period under review.
He explained that the annual inflation rates over the same period had shown a decreasing pattern from 21.3 percent in May 2016 to 6.5 percent in May 2017.
He said the year on year inflation rate for May 2017 was recorded at 5.1 percent compared to the 6.1 percent recorded in April.
“The annual food inflation rate for May 2017 was recorded at 5.9 percent compared to the 6.1 percent recorded in April 2017 while the annual non-food inflation rate for the month of May was recorded at 7.3 percent from 7.5 percent recorded in April,“ he said.
He explained that of the total 6.5 percent annual inflation rate recorded in May 2017, food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 3.2 percentage points while non-food items accounted for a total of 3.3 percentage points.
He announced that the monthly inflation rate for May 2017 was recorded at 0.1 percent compared to 0.4 percent in April 2017, showing a decrease of 0.3 percentage points.
