Friday, May 22, 2020

Inflation decreases further in April

Headline inflation as measured by the year-on-year(Y-o-Y) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100) decreased to 5.9% in April 2020 from 7.0% in March 2020.

This was driven by the monthly decline of prices of the items in the Food category and the statistical effect of the high base prevailed in April 2019.

Accordingly, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) declinedto12.2% in April 2020 from 14.1% in March 2020.

Meanwhile, Non-food inflation (Y-o-Y) also declined to 1.1% in April 2020 from 1.8% in March 2020.The change in the NCPI measured on an annual average basis increased to5.1% in April 2020 from 4.9% in March 2020.

Monthly change of NCPI recorded at -0.3% in April2020 due to declines observed in prices of items in the Food category, driven by the continued seasonal supply of food crops. Accordingly, within the Food category, prices of vegetables, fruits, big onions and eggs declined during the month.

Meanwhile, prices of the items within the Non-Food category remained unchanged in April 2020, partly due to the lower demand for non-essential goods and services during the lockdown period with the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Further, core inflation(Y-o-Y) remained unchanged at 3.2% in April 2020whileannual average core inflation decreased to 5.0% in April 2020 from 5.2% in March 2020.

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