Africa-Press – Eswatini. The continuous increase of inflation hikes the cost of doing business, as businesses might have to spend more on labour, raw materials, and energy.
This would then compel businesses to increase their prices to account for the rising costs to produce; they essentially pass these costs on to their customers. When customers spend more to purchase items, they sometimes demand more wages from their employers, which increase the cost of doing businesses for the said company. The continuous increase of inflation might be advantageous for some businesses, mostly large corporates, as they would be able to hike prices without enduring the effects of an increase in raw materials.The country’s headline inflation rate for the country was recorded at 6.7 per cent in the past month. That is the annual percentage change in the consumer price index (CPI) on December last year, compared with that of the same period in 2021.
Higher
This annual rate is 0.9 percentage points higher than the corresponding annual rate of 5.8 per cent observed in November last year. This is as per information from the Central Statistical Office. The month-on-month inflation rate (the percentage change in the CPI in September 2022 compared with that of August 2022) is 0.9 per cent. The higher headline inflation was due to increase annual rates of change, which were reflected in September, for the indices price of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which increased from 1.5 per cent in August 2022 to 3.6 per cent in September last year.
This was mainly due to notable price increases recorded in food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Other contributors, according to the report, were recreation and culture which increased from -2.8 per cent in August 2022 to 2.3 per cent the following month. Magazines and related products resulted to the higher index in this category. Transport is also said to have increased from 9.6 per cent in August 2022 to 11.8 in September 2022. The purchase of motor vehicles contributed to the higher index in this category.
Decreasing
The increasing rates were slightly counteracted by decreasing rates of growth in the price indices for household and office furniture, which decreased from 5.1 per cent in August 2021 to 4.8 in September. This fall was due to price decreases in furniture sells. Meanwhile, both headline and core results are followed closely by investors, and are also used by economists and central banking figures to set economic growth forecasts and monetary policy. Headline inflation refers to the change in value of all goods in the basket. Core inflation excludes food and fuel items from headline inflation.
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