A surge in services prices, driven by increases in education and restaurant and accommodation services, pushed inflation to its fastest pace in six months in February.
The consumer price index climbed 3.4 per cent from a year earlier, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics said, the highest rate since August last year. In January, inflation was 2.8 per cent.
The biggest contributor to the jump in the headline rate was core consumer prices, which rose 3.4 per cent from 2.4 per cent in the previous month. Services inflation, one of the two subcomponents of core inflation, increased by 5.4 per cent from 3.9 per cent in January, driven by higher prices for education and restaurant and education services. Other goods rose 1.8 per cent, up from 1.3 per cent in the previous month.
The consumer price index for energy, fuels, and utilities increased to 8.0 per cent in February from 7.4 per cent in the previous month. This was due to increases in the prices of firewood, petrol, and liquified gas.
Monthly inflation rose by 0.5 per cent from the 0.0 per cent registered in January. Ubos said the main driver was core inflation, which rose to 0.9 per cent from 0 per cent the previous month.
The rise in core inflation was the result of a jump in services prices, up 1.8 per cent from 0.4 per cent in January. Prices for other goods increased by 0.2 per cent, down from 0.3 per cent in the month before.
