Tanzania has highest inflation rate in East Africa!

[Fareed]

Tanzania inflation rate rises to 9.4 pct in April

DAR ES SALAAM, May 17 (Reuters) - Tanzania's inflation rate rose in April for the first time since October last year as food and fuel price inflation picked up in east Africa's second largest economy, official data showed on Monday.

The National Bureau of Statistics said the year-on-year inflation rate rose to 9.4 percent from 9.0 percent in March. The inflation rate had been declining steadily after hitting 12.7 percent in October 2009.

The NBS said food inflation rose to 9.8 percent from 9.7 percent a month earlier while fuel, power and water prices were 19.9 percent higher than in April 2009, up from a 16.3 percent annual rise in March.

The government is aiming for an inflation rate of 6 percent by June, although analysts have cautioned this target may be hard to hit due to rising fuel prices and expected increases in government spending ahead of elections in October.

They also said the decision by donors to slash funding for Tanzania's next budget by nearly a quarter of a billion dollars would put pressure on prices.

'There is a very strong possibility that Tanzania will return to a double-digit inflation rate in June or July,' Humphrey Moshi, professor of economics at the University of Dar es Salaam, told Reuters.

'Fuel prices are now going up and this will automatically affect the inflation rate by putting pressure on food prices,' he said. 'The recent announcement by donors that they will cut budget funding to Tanzania will have negative consequences for the country's economy as a whole.'

GOVERNMENT CONFIDENT

Inflation rates in Tanzania and its east African neighbours climbed into double digits during 2008 on the back of a surge in food and fuel prices. Inflation has since been slowing in all five members of the East African Community, helped by better harvests after a prolonged drought.

Tanzania now has the highest inflation rate in the trading bloc, followed by Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda, where it was just 2.05 percent in March.

The government said it was confident it could maintain single-digit inflation, despite higher fuel prices.

'Food prices carry a heavy weight in determining the inflation rate, so the government is keen to prop up the agriculture sector,' Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Omar Yussuf Mzee, told Reuters by phone.

'We are not worried a lot about fuel prices. We need to control food prices by boosting crop production and building capacity to store food in strategic reserves, which can be flooded into the market whenever there is a deficit in order to bring prices down,' he said.

The NBS said food prices, which have a weight of 55.9 percent in the consumer price basket, fell 0.1 percent in April thanks to declines in the cost of cereals, cassava, potatoes, cooking bananas, fruit, beans and nuts.

The food price drop helped offset higher prices for drinks, charcoal, household equipment and recreation items leaving the overall price index down 0.1 percent on the month.

Haya wana JF, Tanzania sasa inasifika kwa kuwa na mfumuko wa bei (inflation) wa juu kuliko nchi zote za Afrika Mashariki. Inflation ya April imeongezeka tena baada ya kushuka hivi karibuni from double digit. Hata nchi ndogo kama Rwanda (2% inflation) itushinde? Nyerere alisema ili tuendelee tunahitaji Ardhi, Siasa Safi na Uongozi Bora. Tumekosa nini kati ya hivyo?

 

[saitama_kein]

Vyote tunavyo kasoro UONGOZI BORA........................

 

[Ubungoubungo]

siku zote huwa inakuwa hivyohivyo..sijui tutajikomboa lini na umkiani huu...

 

[Regia Mtema]

Duu!

 

[Godwine]

tunahitaji gavana wa bot atoe maelezo zaidi kuhusu mfumuko wa bei na nini atafanya kuupunguza

 

[Genekai]

tunahitaji gavana wa bot atoe maelezo zaidi kuhusu mfumuko wa bei na nini atafanya kuupunguza

Huyu Gavana aliingia kwa kelele kweli ofisini nikadhani tutapunguza gap tulilokuwa nalo na jirani zetu kumbe ndo tunazidi kurudi nyuma. Rwanda kila kukicha ni mabomu tu but bado wako juu dunia nzima. Kazi tunayo!

 

[PatPending]

tunahitaji gavana wa bot atoe maelezo zaidi kuhusu mfumuko wa bei na nini atafanya kuupunguza

Hatuna an independent central bank explicitly charged with inflation targeting hivyo governor hayuko obligated kujieleza for missing the target set (wait a minute kwanza hakuna a set target ni just some random figures we aspire and/or hope to reach).

Pili these news should be a serious cause for concern especially when you consider that they have already tweaked the basket of goods used to calculate inflation to give them a more favourable price index. I believe they have already lowered the food weight by ten percentage points in comparison to last year's basket. Mmh, the plot thickens

 

[Gelange Vidunda]

Hivi, ni kwa nini bei zetu za mafuta, nyumba (rent), magari etc havipungui bei even if duniani kote kuna financial crisis? Bei za mafuta duniani, by the barrel, ilishuka sana to approximately $60 - I think now its in the $90 dollar range - lakini hapa kwetu bei per lita zinaongezeka!

So to the housing situation kwa walio bongo - wenye nyumba wanashikilia mabei ya ajabu ajabu, wateja hawapo, na matokeo yake nyumba nyingi ambazo zingeweza kupangishwa kwa mfano laki 5 au 6 zipo tupu kwani mwenye nyumba anashikilia palepale kwenye milioni moja!! Vilevile, nyumba ambayo ineweza kuuzwa kwa milioni 80 sasa inauza milioni 200 or very close to that! (Nimedokezwa eti ni kwa sababu ya EPA ndio iliyoinflate prices ya vitu vingi........lakini walikuwa wangapi hao wa EPA????)

Gari kwa mfano wa Toyota Mark II, GX 100 inauzwa mpaka milioni 12 wakati the same car I believe the price is maybe close to 5-7 milion!!

How does this come-come???

 

[Kasheshe]

Nyerere alisema ili tuendelee tunahitaji Ardhi, Siasa Safi na Uongozi Bora. Tumekosa nini kati ya hivyo?

Tunayo Ardhi tu.

--->Hatuna siasa safi.
---->Hatuna Watu (I mean we do not have effective workforce both from private to public sector)
---->Hatuna uongozi not even uongozi safi

Msemo wa Nyerere una-hold... we only have land.

 

[Kasheshe]

tunahitaji gavana wa bot atoe maelezo zaidi kuhusu mfumuko wa bei na nini atafanya kuupunguza

Hizo ni solution za kisanii mkuu!!! dawa ya kuondoa inflations... ni kuzalisha chakula kwa wengi.... period.