Rwanda’s consumer price index main gauge of inflation rate has increased by 4.4 per cent year on year up from 0.7 per cent same period in 2015. A monthly report released yesterday by the national institute of statistics of Rwanda, indicated a 0.4 percent increase in inflation on a monthly basis resulting into an annual average rate of 3.1percent since February 2015. The increase was mainly attributed to the high commodity prices including food and non-alcoholic beverages. According to the report, prices for both food and non alcoholic beverages increased 8.1percent pushing monthly inflation rate to 0.4 per cent up from 0.5 per cent in February. The underlying inflation rate (excluding fresh food and energy) according to the report increased by 0.4 percent when compared to January 2016 and 2.9 percent when compared to February 2015. This increase according to Lucie Mutetijabiro, the team leader at NISR’s price statistics and research unit, resulted into an annual average underlying inflation rate of 2.3 percent during the period under review. Generally, inflation in Rwanda continues to record moderate and low levels though it has been increasing since January last year. Headline inflation has since increased from 1.8 per cent in 2014 to 2.5 per cent in 2015 courtesy of rising food prices, especially influenced by vegetable prices. Core inflation, which excludes fresh products and energy, slightly declined on average from 2.7 per cent in 2014 to 2.1 per cent in 2015 justifying the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) decision to maintain the ongoing monetary policy stance to continue supporting the financing of economic activities. The downward pressures according to BNR came from transport prices following the trend in international oil prices. Meanwhile, inflation in East African Community remained low in 2015 with some pressures towards the end of the year due to food inflation and continuous weakening regional currencies against the USD. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
