“Inflation hit a new four-year high in a context of high global oil and energy prices caused by disruptions in the supply chain in Russia and Ukraine and also due to the effect of the covid-19 pandemic,” the commentary on price developments in Mozambique reads.
Year-on-year inflation in Mozambique was 10.81 percent in June, the highest in the last four years and nine months, the National Statistics Institute (INE) announced on Tuesday.
Year-on-year inflation in May had been 9.31% and rose 150 basis points in June, according to the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) bulletin.
You have to go back as far as August 2017 to find a higher figure: at that time, inflation was 14.13%, in the wake of the shock caused by hidden debts.
“Although the metical exchange rate has remained at 63.83 per dollar since September 2021, we do not believe that exchange rate stability alone will counter the impact of the recent sharp increase in global energy prices and food prices on prices paid by consumers,” the report sent to clients points out.
The rise since the beginning of the year is in line with all forecasts and the global inflationary climate caused by the war in Ukraine and rising fuel prices. In cumulative terms, since the beginning of the year, 2022 inflation in Mozambique is now at 6.44%.
Usually one sees a retreat of prices and even some deflation between May and July, due to the harvest period and abundance in the markets, but this year the monthly relief was minimal: monthly inflation in May was 1% and in June it was 0.83%.
