Maputo, 14 Apr (AIM) – Mozambique’s annual inflation rate fell to just over three per cent in March, according to the latest figures released by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The annual inflation rate has been falling steadily. It declined from 5.43 per cent in November, to 4.29 per cent in December, to 4.19 per cent in January, to four per cent in February, and now to 3.03 per cent.
Based on the consumer price indices from all of Mozambique’s major urban centres, the INE calculates that prices rose by an average of just 0.03 per cent in March.
The main price rises over the month were for onions (6.8 per cent), fresh fish (two per cent), children’s shoes (5.1 per cent), and unprocessed rice (one per cent).
Some foodstuffs dropped sharply in price. Thus unprocessed maize cost 6.8 per cent less than in February. Other significant price falls were for potatoes (down by 3.6 per cent), tomatoes (2.8 per cent) and cabbage (2.3 per cent).
Inflation over the first three months of 2024 was 1.43 per cent.
The city with the highest rate of inflation in March was Xai-Xai, where prices rose by 0.27 per cent, followed by Nampula and Tete (each with 0.21 per cent). The lowest inflation was in Maputo, where prices were almost static, rising by an average of just 0.08 per cent over the month.
(AIM)
Pf/ (239)
