WASHINGTON: Rwanda’s consumer price index the main gauge of inflation increased by 4.7 percent in April 2016 up from 0.9 per cent same period in 2015. On a monthly basis, the country’s CPI increased by 0.8 percent in April 2016, a monthly CPI report by the National Institute of Statistics in Rwanda (NISR), released yesterday indicated. The increase means that Rwandans are now spending extra more francs to buy commodities especially food when compared to the same period last year.
The report indicated an increase in prices for both food and non alcoholic beverages of 5.6 percent. On average, the year on year inflation for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased by 3.9per cent while that for transport, the main player rose by 7.6 percent.
Meanwhile, inflation rate due to a reduction in value of money (excluding fresh food and energy) increased by 0.9 percent when compared to March 2016 and 3.6 percent compared to same period the previous year. This therefore means that the country’s annual average underlying inflation rate is currently established at 2.6 percent and still manageable despite slight currency depreciation.
