Consumer prices eased in March as prices of food and related items fell and energy inflation moderated, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.
The consumer price index, a general indicator of the level of prices paid by households for goods and services, increased 3.3 per cent on a 12-month basis and was up 0.5 per cent from a month ago. In February, inflation rose 3.4 per cent year-on-year and 0.5 per cent on the month.
Core inflation, the measure the central bank considers the more important barometer, rose 3.4 per cent in the year to March, the same rate as the previous month. Services inflation increased, driven by a rise in passenger transport prices and mobile money charges. Other goods inflation, however, rose at a slower pace than in February.
Energy prices increased by 7.6 year-on-year, down from 8 per cent in February, with both charcoal and petrol prices softening. Firewood prices, on the other hand, rose at a faster pace.
The reading for food crops and related items fell 0.4 per cent after a jump of 0.5 per cent in February. This was mainly due to decreases in the prices of beans, milk, carrots, and fresh leaf vegetables.
On a monthly basis, core inflation increased 0.4 per cent, weaker than the 0.9 per cent rise in February, largely due to an easing in services inflation. Food crops and related items inflation rose by 2.3 per cent, compared with a fall of 2.4 per cent in February, while energy inflation fell by 0.4 per cent, the same as in the previous month.
