THE stability in the price movement of various consumer products has led to Zambia’s annual inflation rate for April to remain the same as recorded in March at 6.7 percent, Central Statistical Office (CSO) says.

CSO director of census and statistics John Kalumbi, however, said prices are increasing but at a slow rate, which shows the confidence in the economy.

Mr Kalumbi said at the monthly briefing yesterday that of the 6.7 percent, food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 3.3 percent while non-food items accounted for 3.4 percent.

“The year-on-year inflation rate as measured by the all items consumers price index for April 2017 remained the same as that was recorded in March 2017 at 6.7 percent. This means that on average, prices increased by 6.7 percent between April 2016 and April 2017,” he said.

He said the annual food inflation rate for April 2017 was recorded at 6.1 percent from 6.7 percent in March, representing a decrease of 0.6 percentage point.
He attributed the decrease to price changes for cereals such as maize grain, breakfast and roller mealie meal as well as vegetables and fruits.

Mr Kalumbi also said the annual non-food inflation rate for April 2017 was recorded at 7.5 percent from 6.6 percent in March, representing a marginal increase of 0.9 percentage point.

He said the increase is due to transport and price changes for the purchase of motor vehicles.

And a check on selected products indicate that the national average price of a 25 kilogramme bag of breakfast mealie meal decreased by 2.6 percent from K103.46 to K100.73 while roller mealie meal declined by 2.7 percent from K85.67 to K83.32.