Cost of Living Jumps to 22.6pc

Apr 4 , 2020


Headline inflation, an indicator of the cost of living, continues to spike and reached the highest rate in six years when it hit a rate of 22.6pc last month, according to the latest Consumer Price Index from the Central Statistical Agency (CSA). Driven by inflation in food prices, the rate has shown a 0.8 percentage point rise from the previous month. Last month, food inflation jumped close to two percentage points to 26.9pc, while non-food inflation showed a slight decline to 17.6pc. March's rate, which came out after Ethiopia confirmed its first case of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), is the second highest jump in six years next to the 22.2pc rate that was registered in 2014. Except for wheat, the price of almost all cereals increased, especially that of teff, maize and sorghum, according to the report.


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