African Inflation Snapshot: February 2015

Angola inflation rises to 7.73 percent: Angola’s consumer inflation edged up to 7.73 percent year-on-year in February from 7.44 percent in January, data from the statistics office. On a month-on-month basis, prices were up 0.76 percent after a 0.72 percent increase previously.

Botswana’s inflation falls to 2.8 percent: The annual inflation rate in February 2015 was 2.8 percent, a drop of 0.8 of a percentage point on the January 2015 rate of 3.6 percent. Annual inflation in February 2015 was lower than the 4.6 percent recorded during the same month in 2014. The downward movement of annual inflation rate between February 2014 and February 2015 was attributed to the decline in prices of commodities in the main component of Transport which dropped by 7.3 percentage points. Likewise, the February national Consumer Price Index registered a decrease of 0.4 percent, moving from 179.5 in January to 178.8 in February.

Egypt’s annual core and urban inflation rise: Egypt’s urban consumer inflation rose to 10.6 percent in February from 9.7 percent in January, according to the official statistics agency CAPMAS. Core annual inflation, which excludes volatile items like fruit and vegetables, increased to 7.15 percent in February from 7.06 percent the previous month. Inflation spiked in Egypt after the government slashed subsidies in July, pushing up fuel prices by up to 78 percent.

Ghana consumer inflation rises to 16.5 percent: Ghana’s annual consumer price inflation rose marginally to 16.5 percent in February, from 16.4 percent the previous month, driven by food prices according to the Ghanaian’s statistics office. The price drivers were food items, mainly the local staples, with food inflation rose by 0.1 percentage point to 7.0 percent in February. Prices of non-food items remained unchanged at 23.0 percent.

Kenya inflation rises to 5.61 percent: The overall inflation rate stood at 5.61 per cent in February 2015. More so, the CPI increased by 0.46 per cent from 153.43 in January 2015 to 154.14 in February 2015. The increase in index was mainly attributed to increased cost of ordinary vegetables, milk and other products due to the weather conditions experienced in the first two months of the year. In aggregate, increase in food inflation resulted from observed rises in the prices of several food items outweighing falls in the prices of others.

Ivory Coast inflation falls to 1.3 percent: Ivory Coast’s consumer price inflation fell to 1.3 percent year-on-year in February, from 2.3 percent in January, according to published data from the National Statistics Institute. Likewise, food and soft drink prices rose 1.2 percent, housing and utility prices jumped 2.8 percent while transport costs fell 1.5 percent. Healthcare prices added 2 percent and communications costs climbed 1.1 percent.

Malawi February CPI slows to 19.7 percent: Malawi’s consumer inflation slowed to 19.7 percent year-on-year in February from 21.2 percent in January, according to data from the National Statistical Office.

Mauritius inflation rose to 2 percent: Mauritius’ year-on-year inflation rate rose to 2 percent in February from 0.7 percent a month earlier

Morocco inflation eases to 1.3 percent: Morocco’s consumer price inflation eased to an annual 1.3 percent in February from 1.6 percent in January as rising food and non-food prices slowed, according to the High Planning Authority. Food inflation was up 1.8 percent after rising 2.1 percent in the 12 months till January. The non-food price index rose 0.9 percent from the previous month. Transport costs fell 3.8 percent, while housing was five percent more expensive, the agency said, without elaborating. On a month-on-month basis, the consumer price index edged up to 0.4 pct in February from 0.3 percent in January. The food price index rose 1 percent on the month and non-food prices were up 0.1 percent.

Namibia’s CPI inflation slows to 3.6 percent: Namibia’s consumer inflation slowed sharply to 3.6 percent year-on-year in February from 4.5 percent in the month before, according to the statistics office. On a month-on-month basis, prices contracted by 0.2 percent in February after rising 0.8 percent in the previous month.

Nigeria inflation accelerates for third straight month: Nigeria’s inflation rate rose for the third consecutive month to 8.4 percent in February, from 8.2 percent the previous month, partly driven by increases in prices of imported food items, according to the statistics bureau.. Similarly, Food inflation accelerated to 9.4 percent, from 9.2 percent in January.

Rwanda inflation falls to 0.7 percent: Rwanda’s urban inflation rate fell to 0.7 percent in February from 1.4 percent in the previous month, according to the statistics office, citing a drop in transport costs. The agency said in a statement that in February, the prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose by 3.6 percent while transport decreased by 4.3 percent. The data also showed that the prices of imported products decreased by 0.3 percent on annual basis, while the prices of the fresh products decreased by 2.9 percent in the period.

Tanzania’s inflation edges up to 4.2 percent: Tanzania’s year-on-year inflation edged up for the first time in five months, with both food and some non-food items contributing to the rise, according to the statistics office. The year-on-year inflation was 4.2 percent in February up from 4.0 percent in January. Month-on-month inflation was 1.6 pct in February from 1.0 percent in January. The rise of the headline annual inflation rate in February 2015 was caused by an increase in food and non-food items.

Seychelles inflation rises to 3.7 percent: Seychelles year-on-year inflation rose to 3.7 percent in February from 2.9 percent in January, according to the official data. On a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate in the Indian Ocean archipelago was 0.6 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

South Africa’s headline CPI slows to 3.9%: South Africa’s headline consumer inflation slowed sharply to 3.9 percent year-on-year in February from 4.4 percent in January, data from Statistics South Africa. On a month-on-month basis, prices were up 0.6 percent in February, having contracted by 0.2 percent previously. Core inflation, which excludes the prices of food, non-alcoholic beverages, petrol and energy, was unchanged at 5.8 percent year-on-year, but quickened to 1.3 percent month-on-month from 0.4 percent.

Sudan’s inflation rate 23 percent: Sudan’s inflation rate was 23 percent in February, down from 24 percent in January, due to a continuing drop in food prices, according to the Central Statistics Office. Fuel subsidy cuts introduced in 2013 also pushed up inflation but their effects have since begun to ease. But with the exception of an uptick in December to 25.7 percent from November’s rate of 25.6, Sudan’s inflation has been easing since the summer, when it was in the mid-forties.

Ugandan inflation rises to 1.4 percent: The year-on-year inflation went up to 1.4 percent from 1.3 percent in January, according to the Uganda’s inflation. The increase was attributed to increase in non-food prices. On a monthly basis, the overall inflation rose by 0.4 percent. Likewise, the in core inflation (- which excludes food, fuel, electricity and metered water) increase to 3.0 percent from with 2.7 and this was attributed to rising prices of items like cement and education services.

Zambia’s Inflation decreases to 7.4 percent: Zambia’s February 2015 annual rate of inflation was recorded at 7.4 percent by the Central Statistical Office, 0.3 percentage points below January’s record of 7.7 percent. According to CSO, the annual food inflation rate has risen from January’s 7.4 percent to 7.6 percent in February 2015. On a year-on-year comparison, prices of most food items, except for mealie meal, which registered price reductions, increased in February 2015, pushing the food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation rate to 7.5 percent. The monthly food inflation rate for February 2015 also rose to 0.8 percent from 0.7 percent recorded in January, 2015.

Zimbabwe’s Inflation decreases to -1.4 percent: The year-on-year inflation rate for the month of February stood at -1,40% as measured by all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) shedding 0,12 percentage points on the January rate of -1,28%. This means that prices as measured by the all-items CPI decreased by an average of 1,40% points between February 2014 and February 2015. Month-on-month prices decreased by 0,07% between January and February 2015. The year-on-year food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation prone to transitory shocks stood at -2,87% whilst the non-food inflation rate was -0,68%. The month-on-month inflation rate in February was 0,07% gaining 0,27% points on the January 2015 rate of 0,34%.

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