By Chisomo Phiri
National Statistics Office(NSO) has announced that the annual inflation rate in the country has increased to 33.1 percent from the previous month’s rate of 26.9 percent.
This is the highest inflation rate recorded since January 2023.
However, the year-on-year rate stands at 25.9 percent.
According to NSO, the inflation rate has been steadily rising in the past few months, reaching 26.7 percent in February, 27 percent in March, 28 percent in April, and 29.2 percent in May.
Commenting on this, an economic expert, Colleen Kaluwa attributed the hyper-inflation to the scarcity of food and the increasing fuel prices in the country.
Kaluwa suggested that the government should prioritize the implementation of railway lines to facilitate fuel transportation.
Kaluwa also urged the commercial banks in the country to lower the interest rates charged to the business community which could potentially provide some relief to businesses struggling with the high inflation rates.
Earlier, projections by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) estimated the average annual inflation rate for 2023 to be 28.2 percent.
However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised their projection for Malawi’s average inflation in 2023 to 30.3 percent from the initial estimate of 24.8 percent.
 has announced that the annual inflation rate in the country has increased to 33.1 percent from the previous month’s rate of 26.9 percent. This…){kind=link}