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November inflation rate jumps to 23.7%

Malawi’s inflation rate for November 2014 slightly increased by 0.4 percentage points to 23.7 percent from 23.3 percent the month before, triggered by the increase in non-food inflation, National Statistical Office (NSO) has said.

NSO’s Stats Flash released on Friday, show that non-food inflation jumped to 26.7 percent in November from 21.5 percent the preceding month, pushed by the increase in household expenses, alcoholic drinks and transportation prices.

inflationTransportation prices have spiked largely due to the increase in fuel prices by Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) on November 8 2014 by about seven percent due to the depreciation of the kwacha.

But NSO said food inflation in the month under review decreased to 21.3 percent from 21.5 percent in October 2014, signifying that food availability on the market is stable.

“The decrease has been influenced by a continuous decline in costs of cereal and cereal products in November 2014,” said the NSO.

Malawi’s inflation is largely determined by food, which has a bigger weight at 52.1 percent in the consumer price index (CPI).Earlier, Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) projected that inflation will accelerate to 25.4 percent in December 2014, largely due to rising food prices and the depreciating kwacha.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, which was in Malawi from 10 to 17 December 2014, said policies geared toward bringing inflation down to single digits, among others, were central to the discussions. n

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