The report unveiled on Wednesday, June 10, 2024, shows that inflation in urban centres was driven by an increase in the prices of food and beverages, as well as transportation costs.
Between June 2023 and June 2024, the prices of food and beverages increased by 3.1%, while transportation costs saw a significant increase of 23.2% over the past year.
In the same period, prices of milk cheese and eggs in the urban areas increased by 21.1%, meat (10%) and bread and cereals (0.7%).
The cost of non-alcoholic beverages went up by 9.1%, alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics (1.6%), restaurants and hotels 3.1%, and clothing and footwear (5.6%).
Additionally, the cost of accessing health services recorded an increment of 3.0%, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased by 2.0%, education, 1.6% and communication 1.2%. The cost of vegetables reduced by 1.6% and Recreation and culture 0.9% over the same period
There was, however, a silver lining as prices in June 2024 were slightly lower (0.4%) compared to May 2024.
Prices in rural areas decreased slightly compared to both June 2023 (-1.4%) and May 2024 (-0.8%). This resulted in the overall inflation increasing by 1.1 percent annually with a monthly inflation decrease of 0.6 percent.
Imports and Exports
Over the past year, prices of locally produced goods increased by 3.8%. However, in June 2024 compared to May 2024, there was a slight decrease of 0.2%.
Prices of imported goods rose significantly by 9% annually. However, similar to local goods, there was a monthly decrease of 0.7% in June 2024.
The cost of fresh produce increased moderately by 3.2% over the year, with a small increase of 0.1% in prices from May to June 2024.
Energy prices saw an annual rise of 3.7%. However, there was a significant drop of 2.3% in June 2024 compared to May 2024.
In May, the National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) cut its monetary policy rate by 50 basis points to 7.0 per cent, citing a stabilizing inflation rate.
Addressing a press conference in Kigali, NBR Governor John Rwangombwa announced that Rwanda's inflation rate had dropped to 4.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 from 8.9 per cent registered in the last quarter of 2023. He added that the bank expects inflation to remain within the target of 5 per cent in 2024 and 2025.
"We expected inflation to ease to around 5% this year, and in the first quarter, we registered an average of 4.7%. We expect this trend to continue for the rest of the year. At least, our average projection for this year is 5%, which is the same projection we have for 2025," Rwangombwa said.
Wycliffe Nyamasege
Source : https://en.igihe.com/economy/article/food-and-transport-costs-push-rwanda-s-urban-inflation-up-by-5
