Uganda Inflation hits record high

Thursday, 1st September, 2011


High food prices and the depreciation of the Uganda shilling have pushed Uganda's inflation for the year ended August to 21.4%, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), has said.

Overall inflation grew from 18.7% in July as core inflation, which excludes food, fuel, electricity and metered water, increased to 20% in August, from 15.6%.

This was the highest since February 1993. It was also far off the Bank of Uganda target of 5%.

"Food prices rose by 2.4% in most centres during the month, mainly due to low supplies to the market. In addition, prices of some imported goods, especially second-hand and new clothing went up because of the continued depreciation of the shilling," Chris Mukiza, the UBOS director for macro-economic statistics, told reporters at the bureau’s monthly press briefing in Kampala.

Mukiza added that the drop in the shilling value greatly contributed to the growth in core inflation by making raw material imports more expensive for manufacturers.

This resulted in an increase in the prices of most consumer products.

The shilling was currently trading at sh2818/25 against the dollar at most forex bureaus in Kampala, from sh2595/2608 in July.

"Overall inflation is not yet at the level where we can say it is out of hand since, when compared to last year’s inflation, we can see that some variables like food inflation are increasing, but at a reduced rate," Mukiza noted.

The monthly food crops inflation index dropped by 2.6%, while non-food prices rose by 2.9% due to increases in prices of bottled beer, soda, local brew and charcoal.

By Samuel Sanya: The New Vision Newspaper