Hiked prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages as well as tobacco, alcohol and narcotic categories in December 2012 upped Tanzania’s month-to-month headline inflation to 1.9 percent from 0.7 percent during the previous month, according to figures released by the Bank of Tanzania.
In its Monthly Economic Review, the bank said that annual headline inflation rate remained unchanged at 12.1 percent in December 2012 as recorded in November 2012.
However, the annual inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages slowed down to 13.1 percent in December 2012, compared to 13.4 percent in the preceding month.
On a month-to-month, the rate accelerated to 3.1 percent in December 2012 from 0.9 percent recorded in November, owing to a rise in prices of maize, rice and fruits.
Annual non-food inflation rate increased slightly to 10.3 percent in December 2012 from 10.1 percent in November 2012.
Meanwhile, the annual inflation rate for energy and fuels eased to 17.8 percent in December 2012 from 18.6 percent recorded in the preceding month.
Similarly, month-to-month non-food inflation slowed down to 0.2 percent in December 2012 from 0.4 percent recorded in November.
Regarding the country’s food situation, the report said the stock of maize and sorghum held by the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) in December decreased to 89,951 tonnes from 105,734 tonnes recorded in November 2012.
During the month, NFRA purchased 51,381 tonnes of maize and sorghum and sold 26,657 tonnes of maize and sorghum to private traders, the disaster relief and coordination unit in the Prime Minister’s office, and to the Prisons Department.
On month-to-month basis, average wholesale prices for major food crops shot up, with sorghum selling dearly, followed by maize and rice.
