Brian Benza
20 October 2008
On the back of the continued decline in fuel prices, inflationary pressures have begun to ease off. Analysts are now predicting a sustained drop in the annual inflation figures in the coming months.
The Central Statistics office (CSO) on Friday reported that the annual inflation figure for the month of September fell by 1.1 percentage points to 14 percent from 15.1 percent in August. The fall broke an 11-month successive surge, which began in October last year.
The decline was driven by the transport group index which registered a 5.9 percent decrease from 142.4 to 134.5 between August and September on the back of a 9.4 percent decrease in the constituent section index of Operation of Personal Transport.
The decrease in Operation of Personal Transport section index was attributed to the fall in retail pump prices for both diesel and petrol by P1.50 and P1.00 per litre respectively, which was effected on 19 September 2008.
"We expect inflation to continue to decline in the short run as international fuel prices have dropped significantly in the past two months," said analysts at Stockbrokers Botswana. International oil prices have fallen from a high of $147 per barrel in July to around $70 last week.
On the backdrop of the massive fall in international oil prices, the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources is soon expected to review fuel pump prices downwards.
Although pressure is beginning to ease off due to the fall in oil prices, three group indices recorded changes of more than one percent between August and September. These are Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of Household (two percent); Restaurants and Hotels (1.8 percent) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (1.5 percent).
Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of Household group index registered an increase of two percent from 112.5 in August to 114.7 in September.
"This was due to a general increase in the constituent sections indices. All section indices recorded increases except for Carpets and Other Floor Coverings. The Restaurant and Hotels group index rose by 1.8 percent from 127.1 in August to 129.4 in September. The increase was a result of the constituent sections indices of Restaurant, Cafe's and the Like and Accommodation Services, which increased by 1.9 and 0.9 percent respectively," read a statement from CSO.
The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages index group moved from 133.5 to 135.5, registering an increase of 1.5 percent between August and September 2008. The rise was due to a general increase in the food prices, notably Milk, Cheese and Milk products (3.4 percent), Oils and Fats (2.6 percent), Meat (fresh, chilled, frozen)- (2.5 percent).
The September national Consumer Price Index was at 121.8, a decrease of 0.6 percent on the August index of 122.5. The rural villages' index increased by 0.4 percent - from 121.8 to 122.2 between the two months. The towns' and cities index moved from 122.8 to 121.7 between August and September, a drop of 0.9 percent. The urban villages' index stood at 121.6 in September, a decrease of 0.6 percent on the August Index of 122.4.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
