Annual inflation rises to 7pc

Fri, 29 Sep 2017 12:25:04 +0000

By MUKOSELA KASALWE

THE annual inflation rate for September has increased to 6.6 percent compared to 6.3 for August due to the increase in electricity tariffs, says Central Statistical Office director of census and statistics John Kalumbi.

Mr Kalumbi said the annual inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September, 2017 indicated an increase to 6.6 percent compared to last month’s record of 6.3 percent which he said could mainly be attributed to the price increase in electricity tariffs.

He explained that the figures meant that on average prices increased by 6.6 percent between September 2016 and September 2017

He said in Lusaka yesterday, during the presentation of the Central Statistical Office (CSO) monthly bulletin for this month that on a monthly basis comparison of retail prices between September and August indicated that the national average price of a 25 Kilogram bag of breakfast mealie meal decreased by 6.8 percent from K 77.27 to K 72.00.

Mr Kalumbi said a 25 Kilogram bag of roller mealie meal decreased by 6.1 percent from K 57.73 to K 54.21.

‘‘The year on year inflation rate as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index for September 2017 has increased to 6.6 percent compared to 6.3 percent recorded in August 2017. This means that on average, prices increased by 6.6 percent between September 2016 and September 2017,

‘‘The increase in the annual inflation rate was mainly attributed to price increase in electricity tariffs,’’ he said.

Mr Kalumbi said the CSO in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security was conducting the quarterly Labour Force Surveys 2017.

He said so far two quarterly surveys had been carried out and that for the first quarter it was estimated that the working age population was 9,034,432 persons which represented 51.7 to be females and 48.3 percent males.