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Cooking oil prices boiling over

2022-04-20  Maihapa Ndjavera

Cooking oil prices boiling over

Prices for household oils and fats increased by 15.6% in March 2022, compared to 9.4% recorded during the same time last year. 

This increase, which adds more pressure on domestic households, was mainly reflected in the price levels of cooking fats that escalated (from -2.7% to 36.6%), cooking oil (from 15.8% to 20.3%) and margarine and margarine spreads (from -1.7% to 12.3%).

The figures were released last week by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) in the consumer price index for March 2022, where the food sub-category accounts for 14.8% of the consumer basket in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

NSA CEO Alex Shimuafeni noted the inflation rate is vital for purposes of economic policymaking, especially the conduct of monetary policy and to consumers in general.

In March 2022, the annual inflation rate increased by 4.5%, compared to 3.1% recorded in March 2021. 

On a monthly basis, the inflation rate stood at 0.5%, compared to 0.2% recorded a month earlier. 

The main contributors to the annual inflation rate were mainly transport (1.9 percentage points) and food and nonalcoholic beverages (0.9 percentage points).

“The annual inflation rate for the transport category, which accounts for 14.3% of the consumer basket, continues to be the main driver of the overall inflation, increasing by 13.8% in March 2022, compared to 2.4% recorded in March 2021,” stated the bulletin.

The increases in the transport component were reflected in the price levels of operation of personal transport equipment, which increased by 19.2% and public transport that increased by 9.8%. 

The transport monthly inflation rate increased by 2.6% in March 2022, compared to 1% recorded in February 2022, registering an increase of 1.6 percentage points. 

Furthermore, the zonal inflation rates for the month of March 2022 revealed that zone two (Khomas) recorded the highest annual inflation rate of 5.3%, followed by zone three (Hardap, Omaheke, //Karas and Erongo), which recorded an annual inflation rate of 4.4%, while zone one (Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa and Zambezi) recorded the lowest annual percentage change.


2022-04-20  Maihapa Ndjavera

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