Inflation slows to 15.1 p.c.

SUN BUSINESS writes

@SunZambian

ZAMBIA’S Annual inflation rate for January has decreased to 15.1 percent from last month’s 16.4 percent.

Zambia Statistics Agency (ZAMSTATS) Interim Statistician General Mulenga Musepa said that the decrease of 1.3 percentage points which has been recorded in this month means that on average the prices of goods and services increased by 15.1 percent between January 2021 and January 2022.

Mr. Musepa also attributes the slowdown in annual inflation to favourable price movements in food items.

Speaking during a press briefing in Lusaka, Mr. Musepa has pointed at food items such as meat, fish, dry foods and fruits as being those whose prices dropped.

Mr. Musepa has disclosed that Lusaka contributed the highest at 4.6 percentage points to the overall inflation rate of 15.1, following by copperbelt contributing 3.7 percentage points while northwestern and western provinces had the lowest contributions of 0.4 and 0.3 percentage points respectively.

And Mr. Musepa says the monthly food inflation rate for January 2022 was recorded at 3.1 percent, an increase of 2.4 percentage points from 0.7 percent in December 2021.

And, Mr. Musepa has revealed that Zambia’s cumulative trade from January to December last year was K359.4 billion compared to K242.3 billion recorded the same period in 2020.

He said this shows that country’s trade levels rose by 48.3 percent increase.