January inflation down to 1.3%
Feb 02, 2015
The purchasing power of the shilling is up. Recent data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) indicates that year-on-year inflation dropped to 1.3% at the end of January.
By Samuel Sanya and Rachael Nabisubi
The purchasing power of the shilling is up. Recent data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) indicates that year-on-year inflation dropped to 1.3% at the end of January.
Annual inflation declined from 1.8% recorded in December 2015. Chris Mukiza, the UBOS director for macro-economic statistics, says the decline in inflation is due to decrease in food prices due to the harvest season and declining fuel prices.
“There was a continued deflation in annual food prices to 3.3% in January 2015, compared to 1.9% recorded during the year ended December 2014,” Mukiza said.
“The annual non-food inflation declined to 3.5% at the end of January 2015, compared to 3.6% at the end of December 2014,” he added.
Core inflation, which excludes food, fuel, electricity and metered water, stood at 2.7%, unchanged from December. There were decreases in the prices of bananas, sweet potatoes, cassava, and other foods, the statistics office said, which drove down the January food inflation by 2%.
UBOS data also indicates that prices for fuel, clothing, transport fares and other non-food items also decreased. Mukiza urged Ugandans to consume more local products to ease pressure on the shilling due to a high import bill.
Uganda imports $3b more than it exports, which affects its balance of payments position, resulting in a weaker shilling.
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