Inflation in the construction sector rose for the second consecutive month in October, and to a four-month-high, as the price of inputs for specialised construction activities increased, the statistics bureau said.
The construction input price index, an indicator of the change in input prices for the main cost items of new construction, rose 2.2 per cent on year in October, up from 2 per cent the previous month, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics said Friday. This is the highest rate of increase since June, when construction input inflation was reported at 2.7 per cent.
The rise in construction input costs was driven by the cost of specialised construction activities which increased by 1.8 per cent in the year to October compared to 1 per cent in September. Building completion and finishing inflation rose to 3.6 per cent, up from 3.2 per cent. Demolition and site preparation input inflation fell 1.4 per cent, compared with a drop of 4.9 per cent in September.
Civil engineering input costs slowed to 0.4 per cent, compared with 1.4 per cent in September. Input costs for road and railway construction fell from 1.4 per cent to 0.3 per cent year on year. Input costs for the construction of utility projects also fell.
The 12-month inflation rate for inputs for the construction of buildings fell slightly to 3.2 per cent in October from 3.3 per cent in September, due to a slowdown in costs for the construction of residential buildings. However, inflation for inputs for non-residential construction increased.
On month, the construction input price index rose 0.1 per cent in October, slower than the 0.2 per cent recorded in September. This was due to a drop in the cost of inputs for specialised construction activities to 0.1 per cent, from 0.4 per cent in the previous month.
