By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
THE annual inflation rate for the month of June has reduced to 9.8 percent following the drop in prices of selected food items
This is a reduction from 9.9 percent recorded in the month of May.
The development means that on average prices of food items increased by 11.2 percent between June 2022 and June 2023, says Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) Statistician General Mulenga Musepa.
“This outturn is mainly attributed to price movements in cereals [maize grain, samp, cassava meal], meat [brisket, mixed cut, bone, beef sausage] and milk [fresh milk super milk, condensed milk, powdered milk, cheese].
“Other food items are vegetables [rape, cassava leaves, tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, green pepper and pumpkin] cooking oil and live chicken,” Mr Musepa told the media in Lusaka yesterday.
He said the slowdown in inflation meant that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 9.8 percent between June 2022 and June 2023.
He attributed the development mainly to price movements of selected food items.
Meanwhile, Mr Musepa said Zambia recorded a trade surplus of K40.8 million in May compared to a deficit of K457.7 million in April.
He said exports mainly comprising domestically produced goods, increased by 13.1 percent to K17, 121.2 million in May 2023 from K15, 136.1 million in April 2023.
This was mainly on account of 16 and 14.2 percent increases in export earnings from Intermediate goods and Capital goods, respectively.
Mr Musepa said imports also increased by 9.5 percent to K 17,080.4 million in May from K15, 593.7 million in April.
He said this was mainly a result of 2.9, 27.9, and 4.6 percent increases in import bills of Intermediate goods, Consumer goods, and Capital goods, respectively.
“Traditional Exports (TE’s) earnings increased by 9.6 percent to K11.0 billion in May 2023 from K10 billion in April 2023. In terms of share in total exports, TEs accounted for 64.1 percent during the month under review,” Mr Musepa said.
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