Inflation rate is expected to continue dropping on the back of decreasing food inflation.
Latest figures from the Reserve Bank of Malawi
(RBM)’S market intelligence report for February 2024 show that maize prices dropped by 12 % during the month.
Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda said the drop in the prices signals the inflation will continue to go down.
“The reduction is a significant indicator that the economy has started getting on track and that will be the trend because we are in the harvesting season, and we expect that we will harvest substantial quantities,” Chithyola Banda said.
According to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)’s Malawi Monthly Maize Market Research quoted in the RBM report, during the month, maize prices went down to K771 per kilogramme from K991 per kilogramme in January 2024.
The 12 % drop has been attributed to the increased number of ADMARC depots that were selling maize in the month under review.
Maize price and market availability play a key role in determining headline inflation, which also took a downward trajectory during the month.
With headline inflation now at 33.5 percent, Food and Non-Food inflation rates are at 42.0 percent and 22.1 percent, respectively.
Food inflation has also been on a downward trajectory, moving from 44.9 percent in January to 42 percent in February.
By Earlene Chimoyo