Inflation drops to 4.3pc in April

 PILLY NASHON in Dodoma

INFLATION has slightly dropped by a 0.4 percentage points in April this year after prices of some food and non-food items slightly declined.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) statement on Wednesday showed that the inflation dropped to 4.3 per cent from 4.7 per cent recorded in March.

“This means that there are changes in prices of food items and other services compared to the previous month,” the statement said.

The price decrease was noticed significantly in maize which went down from 50.9 per cent to 44.8 per cent, wheat flour from 16.1 per cent to 7.5 per cent and sweet potatoes from 7.8 per cent to 2.0 per cent.

Other that went down slightly were rice from 32.0 per cent to 31.2 per cent, and millet flour from 5.6 per cent to 5.3 per cent and corn flour from 48.9 per cent to 48.0 per cent, noodles from 2.1 per cent to 1.3 per cent, chicken meat from 4.6 per cent to 4.5 per cent, fruits from 7.4 per cent to 6.7 per cent and beans from 30.5 per cent to 29.9 per cent.

On the other hand, some non-food items that decreased in price include clothing fabrics that have decreased from 0.9 per cent to 0.1 per cent, vitenge fabrics from 2.6 per cent to 2.2 per cent and children’s shoes from 2.6 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

Additionally, construction materials such as iron sheet and cement decreased from 4.0 per cent to 3.4 per cent; gas from 9.0 per cent to 8.3 per cent, petrol down from 7.6 per cent to -9.3 per cent.

‘Daily News’ spot survey in some markets in Dodoma yesterday confirmed the NBS inflation findings. For instance in Majengo market rice price dropped by almost 16 per cent from 3,200 /- per kilogramme to 2,700/-, corn flour by 10 per cent from 2,000 per kg to 1,800/-, and a bunch of sweet potatoes by 50 per cent from 2,000/- to 1,000/-.

In another step, the NBS statement explained the inflation situation in some East African countries where in Uganda, inflation for April this year has decreased to 8.0 per cent from 9.0 per cent of the inflation in March, while in Kenya, inflation has decreased to 7.9 per cent from 9.2 per cent in March.