NFLATION RATE OF 1.27 PER CENT IN AUGUST

The monthly inflation rate in Mozambique rose to 1.27 per cent in August, according to the latest figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE), based on the consumer price indices for the three largest cities (Maputo, Nampula and Beira).This compares with an inflation rate of 0.9 per cent in July and 0.76 per cent in June. The accumulated inflation between January and August stands at 11.68 per cent, while the yearly rate (1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016) is 21.96 per cent.As usual, the monthly inflation was due overwhelmingly to rises in food prices, because of the weighting given to food and drink in the basket of goods and services from which the Consumer Price Index is calculated. In August, the price of cooking oil rose by 10.3 per cent (after a rise of 7 per cent in July), of rice by 3.6 per cent, and of fresh or frozen fish by 2.7 per cent.There were also some significant rises for non-food items – the price of soap went up by 10.3 per cent, of new cars by 8.4 per cent, and of second hand cars by 9.3 per cent.There were slight declines in the prices of tomatoes, onions and cowpeas. Taken together, they fell in price by 0.63 per cent.Of the three cities covered by the survey, inflation was highest in Maputo (1.75 per cent in August). Prices went up by 0.94 per cent in Nampula and by 0.52 per cent in Beira.