Yuletide spending pushes inflation to 11.44% in December – NBS

Spending during the yuletide season pushed up inflation rate to 11.44 percent in December from the 11.28 percent recorded in November 2018.

The consumer price index (CPI) which measures inflation released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that  December inflation rate is 0.16 percent points higher than the rate recorded in November 2018 (11.28 percent).

Analysis showed that increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yielded the Headline index.

On month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 0.74 percent in December 2018, up by 0.06 percent points from the rate recorded in November 2018 (0.80) percent.

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending December 2018 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 12.10 percent, showing 0.31 percent point from 12.41 percent recorded in November 2018.

The urban inflation rate increased by 11.73 percent (year-on-year) in December 2018 from 11.61 percent recorded in November 2018, while the rural inflation rate increased by 11.18 percent in December 2018 from 10.99 percent in November 2018.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 0.76 percent in December 2018, down by 0.07 from 0.83 percent recorded in November 2018, while the rural index also rose by 0.72 percent in December 2018, down by 0.06 percent from the rate recorded in November 2018 (0.78) percent.