January inflation eases to 23.5%

Malawi’s year-on-year headline inflation rate for January 2016 as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) slowed by 1.4 percentage points, to 23.5 percent from 24.9 percent in December 2015, according to figures from the National Statistical Office (NSO).

January food inflation eased to 28.4 percent from 29.2 percent in December 2015 while non-food inflation stands at 18.5 percent. Urban and rural inflation rates stands at 18.3 percent and 26.9 percent respectively.

This means inflation rate has averaged 14.90 percent from 2001 to 2016. Inflation reached an all time high of 37.90 percent in February of 2013 and a record low of 6.30 percent in December of 2010.

Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) president Henry Kachaje on Wednesday described the slight improvement in inflation as too minimal to inspire hope.

“The movement is too minimal to make an impact. Let’s wait until it drops to below 20,” he said.

In its Third Monetary Policy Statement, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has set 14.2 percent as the inflation target for the fiscal year ending June 2016.n