Consumer Price Index rose to 16.82 per cent in April 2022 as food and gas prices soar.
The CPI measures the rate of increase in the price of goods and services.
Although the rate is 1.3 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in April 2021 (18.12) per cent, it is the highest since September 2021 (16.63 per cent).
But the headline inflation rate slowed down in April 2022 when compared with the same period last year.
This was contained in the National Bureau of Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for April 2022, released on Monday.
The report stated that increases were recorded in all classifications of individual consumption according to purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.
According to the report, “On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased to 1.76 per cent in April 2022, this is a 0.02 per cent rate higher than the rate recorded in March 2022 (1.74) per cent.
“The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending April 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period is 16.45 per cent, showing a 0.1 per cent decrease compare to the 16.54 per cent recorded in March 2022.
“The urban inflation rate increased to 17.35 per cent (year-on-year) in April 2022 from 18.68 per cent recorded in April 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased to 16.32 per cent in April 2022 from 17.57 per cent in April 2021.”
The Russia-Ukraine war, which broke out in February has caused a hike in global oil and food prices.