A report released by National Statistical Office (NSO) shows that cost of living has gone up in Malawi under the Lazarus Chakwera administration.
The Consumer Price Index report indicate that the country’s headline inflation –the cost for purchasing a fixed basket of goods – has gone up to 12.1%.
In December last year, headline inflation was 11.5% though NSO says the Consumer Price Index and Inflation Rate for January 2022 have been claculated using revised weights.
According to NSO, Food and Non-Food Inflation rates are at 14.2 and 9.6 percent respectively.
The urban month to month inflation rate is at 2.4 percent while Urban Food and Non-Food inflation rates stand at 4.8 and 0.5 percent respectively.
The rural month to month inflation rate is at 4.2 percent while Rural Food and Non-food inflation rates stand at 5.7 and 2.0 percent respectively.
Since Chakwera became president in 2020, there has been a sharp rise in prices of various goods including fuel. Prices of some food items such as cooking oil have more than doubled over the past two years.
Presenting the National Budget statement last week, Minister of Finance Sosten Gwengwe noted that consumer prices accelerated markedly during the 2021/2022 fiscal year mostly due to an increase in food and fuel prices.
“inflation, which had been in single digits for close to two years, recently crept back into double digits.
“The increase was largely seasonal, following the depletion of stocks of cereals from the 2020/2021 agricultural season, but was exacerbated by the general increase in costs of imported food items,” said Gwengwe.
