Rwanda: Food Prices Expected to Go Down - Ndagijimana

8 February 2023
The New Times (Kigali)
By Times Reporter

There are signs that market prices will go down this year considering that prices of some foodstuffs had started reducing towards the end of 2022, the Minister of Finance, Uzziel Ndagijimana has said.

While presenting a revised 2022-2023 national budget to a joint parliamentary session on Wednesday, February 8, Ndagijimana said that despite the sharp increase in both global and local market prices, there are signs and hope for a steady decline.

ALSO READ: REVISED BUDGET: Govt spending increase by Rwf106bn

The prices were attributed mainly to unpredictable weather conditions, impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and external factors such as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

"Towards the end of 2022, prices for basic commodities like rice, beans, cooking oil and tomatoes were already reducing, and we expected this to continue as we move towards the end of this agricultural season," Ndagijimana said.

Generally, he said market prices increased by 21.6 per cent in December 2022 compared to 21.7 per cent in November 2022 mainly due to the increase in food prices, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, petroleum products and gas.

He added that the average price increase on the markets between January and December 2022 stood at a rate of 13.9 percent.

ALSO READ: Food prices expected to stabilise

Meanwhile, the revised budget, according to the minister, will see government spending increase by Rwf106.4 billion, representing a 2.3 per cent increment from the Rwf4,658.4 billion to Rwf4,764.8 billion announced in the original budget presented in June 2022.

Read the original article on New Times.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 The New Times. 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 publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.