Malawi inflation highest in Comesa
Malawi’s annual inflation rate in the month of June 2013 was the highest in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), a latest Comesa Harmonised Consumer Price Index (HCPI) has indicated.
The revelation by the Comesa report, made available to Business News on Monday, comes barely few days after the National Statistical Office (NSO) reported that the country’s year on year headline inflation rate for the month of June 2013 stands at 27.9 percent, 3.1 percentage points down on the month before.
“Malawi recorded the highest year on year inflation rate of 28.7 percent followed by Sudan with an annual inflation rate of 22.6 percent whilst DRC recorded the lowest rate of 1.5 percent in June 2013,” reads the Comesa report.
It says as measured by HCPI-Comesa, the average Comesa region year on year inflation rate stood at 8.9 percent in June 2013.
This means that using a particular or common currency, an item that cost an average of 100.00 cents in June 2012 increased to 108.90 cents in June 2013 within Comesa.
However, based on the HCPI-Comesa, an item that cost an average of 100 cents in Malawi in June 2012 increased to 128.70 cents in June 2013.
Of the fifteen participating Member States, the report says seven registered increases in annual inflation in June 2013 whilst eight Member States recorded decreases in annual inflation during the same period.
The Comesa HCPI comprises twelve expenditure divisions which include food and non-alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, housing, water and electricity, furnishings, household equipment, transport and communication, restaurants and hotels, among others.
But it says, based on the main components of expenditure, the restaurants and hotels division registered the highest rate of 20.6 percent while the transport division registered the lowest annual inflation rate of 3.7 percent.
During a recent joint press conference by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and government in Lilongwe, Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Governor Charles Chuka said inflation still remains high but said the bank still remains confident that the rate will be contained.
Malawi’s Finance Minister Ken Lipenga said when he presented the 2013/14 budget that although, the country’s inflation peaked at a high of 38 percent in February 2013, it was pleasing to note that inflation rate has started declining.
Two years down the line we expected donors to bail us, but we still wrangle. We thought it was Bingu’s chase of the British ambassador but it is not. While we needed just forex borrowing to fix the problem the IMF tells us many stories and gives us a raw deal of misery that will take long time to clear. Indeed long time until one brave Malawian will again tell them to go to hell. As long as we tow their line we will be in for it. Just exercise patience and wait, wait, wait.