Inflation falls to 6%

Oct 03, 2006

THE annual headline inflation rate for September dropped to 6.2% from 7.5% in August.

By Alice Kiingi
THE annual headline inflation rate for September dropped to 6.2% from 7.5% in August.
“Prices of foods like sweet potatoes and cassava went up by 1.7%, while matooke prices went up in Kampala, Jinja, Mbale, Masaka and Mbarara except in Gulu. Fish, milk and eggs’ prices increased in a number of centres due to seasonal and distribution factors. Prices of fruits, some vegetables and cereals went up due to low supply,” Steven Bahemuka, the acting principal statistician at the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), said.
He was releasing the Consumer Price Index at the finance ministry in Kampala.
The monthly headline inflation went up by 0.8% due to an increase in the prices of foodstuffs.
Prices of other commodities like charcoal, local brew, household items, soap and toiletries also rose.
Transport fares and medical charges also increased.
Vincent Musoke, the price statician at UBOS, said the transport fares rose because of speed governors.
“Police restricted tax operators to carrying three passengers per row. The charges had to increase to compensate for that gap,” he said.
Musoke said the medical charges shot up as a result of high import taxes for goods from Germany, India and the UK.
Bahemuka said October rates would be similar to September’s or slightly higher.
Ends

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