Fresh data from the government data collecting agency shows that inflation stood at 10 percent in March, a slight drop of 0.6 percent from the previous month.
The major contributing groups to the March 2022 inflation rate were transport (5.4 percent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.3 percent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.9 percent) and miscellaneous goods and services (0.7 percent).
The inflation rates for regions between February and March 2022 indicated that the cities and towns inflation rate recorded a drop of 0.7 of a percentage point, from 10.8 percent in February to 10.1 percent in March.
The rural villages’ inflation rate stood at 9.9 percent in March 2022, a decrease of 0.7 of a percentage point from the February rate of 10.6 percent, while the urban villages’ inflation rate went down by 0.5 of a percentage point, from 10.4 in February to 9.9 percent in March 2022.
The data shows that the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) went up by 0.3 percent in March 2022, from 116.3 registered in February to 116.6 in March.
Urban Villages index increased from 116.7 in February to 117.0 in March 2022, recording a growth of 0.3 percent.
Rural Villages index rose by 0.3 percent, from 115.6 in February to 115.9 in March 2022, while the cities and towns Index moved from 116.4 in February to 116.6 in March, an increase of 0.2 percent.
The food and non-alcoholic beverages group index rose by 0.6 percent, from 115.3 in February 2022 to 116.0 in March 2022.
This was attributed to a general increase in the constituent section indices, particularly; oils and fats (1.4 percent), Vegetables (0.7 percent), bread and cereal (0.7 percent) and meat (fresh, chilled and frozen) (0.7 percent).
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels group index registered a rise of 0.3 percent, from 117.6 in February 2022 to 118.0 in March 2022.
Increase was mainly due to the rise in the constituent section index of Rent Paid by Tenants (0.5 percent) and materials for maintenance and repair of dwellings (0.4 percent).