Inflation continues its downward spiral

NAMIBIA seems to be beating the price monster slowly but surely, with inflation dropping for the fifth consecutive month, settling at 9,1 per cent in June.

The latest Namibia Consumer Price Index (NPCI) figures, released by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) yesterday, should bring some relief to consumers who face a fuel price increase of between 34 cents and 42 cents per litre from today.Inflation has been declining gradually since the beginning of the year. From 11,6 per cent in January and February, it fell to 11,2 in March, to 10 per cent in April and to 9,6 per cent in May.Last month’s figure is significantly lower than the 2008 spike of 12 per cent from August to October, and places Namibia firmly on its way to the forecasted year-end rate of between seven and eight per cent.Particularly encouraging is the drop of one percentage point in food inflation to 11 per cent from May to June. Food inflation peaked at 19,3 per cent last July.Not one item in the food inflation basket increased during June.Fish recorded the biggest drop, easing 4,2 percentage points to 11,7 per cent. Meat followed with 3,6 percentage points, recording 9,5 per cent.Inflation for vegetables declined by 2,7 percentage points to 17,1 per cent, while inflation for sugar, jam, honey, chocolates and other sweets declined by 2,2 percentage points to 12,7 per cent. Milk, cheese and eggs also recorded a rate drop of 2,2 percentage points with inflation ebbing to 11,2 per cent.The rate for bread and cereals decreased by 2,1 percentage points to 6,5 per cent, while fruit inflation shed 1,1 percentage points, easing back to 17,1 per cent.Oils and fat inflation remained unchanged at 3,3 per cent.Transport inflation, the other main driver of overall inflation, also continued sliding. It reversed 1,4 percentage points in June, stopping at 4,1 per cent.Clothing and footwear inflation, however, increased by 1,7 percentage points to nine per cent. The rate for recreation and culture also increased and climbed 2,3 percentage points to 10,5 per cent.Inflation for all other categories dropped, most notably health and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, as well as furnishings, households equipment and routine maintenance.jo-mare@namibian.com.na