The inflation rate rose in August, reaching the highest level since December 2017, reads a commentary on the data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) of Mozambique, which show a year-on-year rise of 5.6% and a slight increase of 0.2% compared to July.
According to the analysts’ note from the South African branch of British firm Oxford Economics, “inflation rose by an average of 5.3% from January to August, up from 3.1% in the same period of 2020.
The consultancy anticipates that weak domestic demand will contain pressures on inflation and points out that the main reasons for price increases are rising oil prices and disruptions in distribution chains.
“In addition, we estimate that the average price of oil will rise significantly this year and should continue to support transport inflation in the short term,” they write, adding that the “supply chains are also suffering disruptions due to covid-19, the civil war in Cabo Delgado and rising shipping costs.”
INE announced on September 11 that Mozambique again registered price increases in August compared to July, after four consecutive months of deflation.
August ended with a monthly inflation of 0.19%, reads the bulletin of the Consumer Price Index (IPC) released then, according to which the year-on-year inflation was 5.61% (up from 5.48% in July).
CPI figures are calculated from price variations of a basket of goods and services, with data collected in the cities of Maputo, Beira and Nampula.