Headline Inflation Falls to 19.8pc

After three consecutive months of spikes, headline inflation dropped by three percentage points last month, according to the latest Consumer Price Index from the Central Statistical Agency (CSA).

Headline inflation, an indicator of the cost of living, reached an annual rate of 19.8pc in May, representing a 3.1-percentage-point fall from the preceding month. Last month's drop also helped the country pull down the figure from 22.9pc, the highest rate in a seven-year period along with the same rate that was registered as an annual average of the 2012/13 fiscal year.

During the last month, food inflation registered a considerable 5.5-percentage-point drop to 20.3pc, while non-food inflation recorded a slight tick down of 0.1 percentage points to 19.1pc.

The month-to-month general Consumer Price Index, which shows price changes between April and May, shows an increase of 1.7pc, a slightly lower growth rate from the 2.1pc that was registered in the preceding month.

"Most cereal prices rose slightly during the month," reads the report from the Agency. "Whole black pepper continued to increase in the last month."

However, the prices of maize, wheat and sorghum fell during the reporting period in some of the regional states, according to the report.

A steady rise in the price of alcohol, tobacco, khat, house rent, housing repair and maintenance, energy, transportation and medical care were attributed as causes for the non-food inflation rate spike over the past year.

Though last month's rate stood as the lowest in four months, it still stands higher than the 13.7pc average inflation that was recorded last fiscal year. May's inflation rate report comes at a time when the economy is struggling with the disruptions caused by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.