Tanzania Inflation Rises to 5.5%

Tanzania’s year-on-year inflation rose to 5.5% in February from 5.2% in the previous month, the statistics office said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The central bank on Monday cut its discount rate to 12% from 16% to help spur lending and boost economic growth, the first time it has lowered borrowing costs since 2013. The cut followed a steep drop in private sector credit growth last year. Data from the statistics office showed food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation rate for the month of February increased to 8.7%, up from 7.6% recorded in January 2017. Food prices are the biggest driver of inflation in Tanzania’s consumer price index basket of goods and services. On a monthly basis, headline inflation rose by 1% in February from an increase of 0.8% a month ago, the National Bureau of Statistics said.