Uganda’s annual inflation drops during March

April 3, 2020 in Trade & Industry by Editor

The true measure of Uganda’s consumer price index amid the coronavirus pandemic will not be known until the end of April, but the Annual Headline Inflation rate dropped from 3.4 percent in February to 3.0 percent in March.

According to latest figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the decrease is largely attributed to a decline of the Annual Core Inflation that fell from 3.1 percent to 2.5 percent in the same period. On Thursday the Bank of Uganda announced that the Monetary Policy Statement expected today, has been postponed leaving the Central Bank Rate at nine percent for the time being.

Although the government’s directives to contain the spread of the coronavirus kicked in towards the end of the month, during March prices dropped for fuel, transport, clothing and footwear.

However the Annual Inflation for bananas increased to minus eight percent for the year ending March 2020 compared to the minus 22.5 pc recorded for the year ended February 2020.

The Annual Food Crops and Related Items Inflation increased to 2.5 percent for the year ending March 2020 compared to the 1.3 percent recorded for the year ended February 2020. The increase was due to Annual Fruits Inflation that recorded minus 3.7 percent for the year ending March 2020 compared to the minus 12.4 percent recorded for the year ended February 2020.