UBOS reports slight rise in January inflation

Consumer prices rose more than anticipated by market observers in January, pushing Uganda’s annual rate to 10.4% compared to 10.2% registered in December 2022.

A rise in inflation could allow Bank of Uganda to further scale up the pace of its interest rate increases in February in a bid to anchor inflation expectations in the economy.

Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) said in a statement that the slight pick in inflation momentum in January was “due to the increase in core inflation that was registered at 9.0% in January 2023 compared to 8.4% for December 2022”.

The latest data by UBOS also means that the fight against inflation is far from won.

Bank of Uganda is scheduled to have a monetary policy meeting later this week – where it will determine market interest rates going forward.

Speaking in Kampala on Tuesday, central bank acting governor Michael Atingi-Ego said Uganda's top financial institution's focus is on easing the inflation.

"The Bank of Uganda remains primarily focused on bringing inflation down to 5% in the medium term to securely anchor inflationary expectations that risked being de-anchored by the recent price shocks stoked by the COVID-19 pandemic's disruption of global supply chains and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.”