The Botswana Central Statistics Office (CSO) said this week the consumer inflation slowed down for the first time after three months of upwards movements. The CSO headed, by Anna Majelantle stated in March 2010, national year-onyear inflation rate stood at 6.0 percent, down by 0.1 of a ercentage point from 6.1 percent in February 2010. According to a statement, four group indices recorded changes of at least 1.0 percent between February and March. The groups are Clothing & Footwear (1.4 percent), Furnishing, Household Equipment and Maintenance (1.4 percent), Restaurants & Hotels (1.1 percent) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (1.0 percent). The Clothing and Footwear group index recorded an increase of 1.4 percent from 117.3 in February to 118.9 in March.
All constituent section indices recorded increases, notably, Footwear (1.9 percent), Clothing (1.3 percent) and Other Articles of Clothing (1.0 percent). The Furnishing, Household Equipment and Maintenance group index registered an increase of 1.4, percent from 131.2 to 133.1 between February and March. This was largely due to the rise in the constituent section indices of; Glassware, Tableware & Household Utensils (2.1 percent), Furniture & Furnishing (1.9 percent), Goods & Services for Household Maintenance (1.4 percent) and Household Textiles (1.2 percent). The Restaurants & Hotels group index recorded an increase of 1.1 percent from 156.5 in February to 158.3 in March. The increase was a result of the constituent section indices of a Restaurants, Caf├®’s and the Like and Accommodation Services, which increased by 1.1 and 0.8 percent espectively. The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels group index registered an increase of 1.0 percent from 120.0 to 121.2 between the two months. This was largely attributed to a rise in the constituent section index of Materials for Maintenance & Repair of Dwellings (1.2 percent) and Rent paid by tenants (1.2 percent). The increase in Rent paid by tenants’ section index was as a result of the quarterly survey on private rentals. On the other hand, the cities and towns’ inflation rate went down by 0.1 of a percentage point from 6.6 percent in February to 6.5 percent in March. while the urban villages’ inflation rate was 5.2 percent, down from the February rate of 5.8 percent by 0.6 of a percentage point. The rural villages’ inflation rate registered an increase of 0.5 of a percentage point, from 5.4 percent in February to 5.9 percent in March. The March national Consumer Price Index was 132.6, up by 0.7 percent on the February index of 131.7. The rural villages’ index went up from 136.4 in February to 138.3 in March, recording an increase of 1.3 percent. The cities and towns’ index moved from 130.1 to 131.0 between February and March, registering an increase of 0.7 percent. The urban villages’ index went up by 0.4 percent, from 131.2 to 131.8 between the two months.
The Alcohol & Tobacco group index moved from 166.0 in February to 167.6 in March, an increase of 0.9 percent. All the constituent section indices recorded increases, Tobacco (2.3 percent) and
Alcoholic Beverages (0.8 percent). The Food & Non Alcoholic Beverages group index moved from 151.1 to 152.4, registering an increase of 0.8 percent between February and March 2010. The rise was due to a general increase in the food prices.
All but one section index recorded increases; Fish (Fresh, Chilled & Frozen) (2.9 percent), Coffee, Tea & Cocoa (2.5 percent), Sugar, Jam, Honey, chocolate & confectionary (1.9 percent), Fruits (1.7
percent), Vegetables and Mineral Waters, Soft drinks, fruit & vegetable Juices (1.5 percent) and Food not elsewhere classified (1.4 percent).
