The annual headline inflation for June 2017 lowered to 6.4 percent compared to the 7.2 percent recorded in May 2017, mainly caused by decline in the prices of food stuffs in the markets of major towns, the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), says in the latest report for the month of June.
UBOS, which manages national statistics says Fort Portal registered the highest annual inflation of 9.6 percent for the year ending June 2017 compared to the 8.7 percent recorded for the year ended May 2017.
According to UBOS, Fort portal experienced low supply of food and nonalcoholic beverages which caused inflation to increase to 18.9 percent for the year ending June 2017 compared to the 15.7 percent recorded for the year ended May 2017.
In addition, the annual inflation for clothing and footwear rose to 10.0 percent for the year ending June 2017 compared to the 5.1 percent registered during the year ended May 2017, the report says.
The second highest inflation, Ubos says, was registered in Arua at 9.1 percent for the year ending June 2017 compared to 7.8 percent recorded for the year ended May 2017. The main driver was the high prices for food and nonalcoholic beverages that registered 18.8 percent for the year ending June 2017 compared to the 16.3 percent for the year ended May 2017.
Further, the cost of furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance went up in Arua as increases came to 6.5 percent for the year ending June 2017 compared to the 5.6 percent registered for the year ended May 2017.
Gulu registered the third highest annual inflation of 8.0 percent for the year ending June 2017 the same rate registered for the year ended May 2017. This was driven by increase in the cost of educational items and fees that stood at 6.6 percent for the year ending June 2017 compared to the 3.3 percent that was recorded during the year ended May 2017.
In addition, a low supply led to price increases for clothing and tootwear in Gulu registered 5.6 percent for the year ending June 2017 compared to the 4.5 percent recorded during the year ended May 2017.
Mbale and Mbarara are the other areas that saw high prices of goods and services rise in June. Inflation in Mbale reduced to 7.9 percent in June from 9.1percent in May while in Mbarara it reduced to 7.1 percent from 8.6 percent.
The average prices of goods and services were cheapest in Jinja, Kampala and Masaka in the month of June compared to May. Jinja’s inflation reduced to 6.2% in June from the 6.8% registered in May. Kampala saw average inflation rededuce to 6.3% from 7.1%. Masaka’s inflation lowered to 6.5% in June compared to 7.8 in May.
