Africa-Press – Namibia. DESPITE average prices of goods and services shooting up to 6,8% last month, some items have been cheaper for the past few months and rice surprisingly is part of the list.
DESPITE average prices of goods and services shooting up to 6,8% last month, some items have been cheaper for the past few months and rice surprisingly is part of the list.
The list, which contains both food and non-food items, was adopted from the Namibia Statistics Agency’s inflation data for the month, which saw inflation for services for the month coming in at 2,5% and a whopping 10% for goods.
Other than rice, food items which have recorded deflation during July and past months include dried, smoked or salted fish, seafood, apples, grapes, beetroot, cabbage, pumpkins, squashes, sweet potatoes, and spinach.
The price of rice, considered a staple food for many Namibian households, has been on a decline of about 2,5% since February.
The cheapest food item according to the data was spinach, with prices down 37%, followed by cabbage with a 26,7% decrease, and beetroot and sweet potatoes dropping with 12,8% and 7,8%, respectively.
Other listed food items were all recorded at below 5%.
Simonis Storm Securities analyst Theo Klein says food inflation appears to decline globally, and this can take some time to lower food price inflation rates in Namibia.
Most food items Namibia still imports have high price increases recorded at double digits.
Food items such as cooking oil, canned meat, avocados, mealies, ice cream, honey, vinegar, coffee, and bottled water continue to edge up.
Non-food items such as furniture and furnishings, household textiles, shoes, men’s and women’s clothes and medical products, appliances and equipment are some of those which recorded price decreases, but not more than 7%.
Klein says while there are a number of deflationary pressures globally, expectations are that inflation will remain at elevated levels in Namibia for the next couple of months, “owing to international price pressures that are delayed in filtering through to Namibia and due to rand weakness”.
These price decreases may therefore be short-lived or could be prolonged, depending on the performance of international trades.
Although the average inflation for the month was low at 6,8% for the whole country – the central Khomas region, or zone 2, was rather expensive to live in, with a 7,7% zonal rate, followed by zone 3 (Erongo, Otjozonjupa and the south) at 6,6%, and the northern regions at 6,2%.
Miscellaneous, yet important services, such as learning to drive with an instructor, have become more expensive over the past 12 months, with an average price increase of 9,4%.
Cars on average were 5,1% more expensive in July, while motorcycles and bicycles were 8,1% and 2,2% more expensive, respectively.
Movers also jacked up their prices, though not as steep.
Desmond Shapaka, a manager at Birdies Movers and Trekwerk, says they had to increase prices because of the increase in the price of fuel.
“Diesel went up, and now people rarely move. It is not the same as when the Angolans were here,” he says.
Shapaka says because of fewer moves, the workforce also had to be reduced, and bringing on casuals to assist was another reason why they had to increase their prices, to make sure the profits are reasonable.
On transport, only rail tickets are flat.
Other means of transport, such as taxis and buses experienced a deflation in July at 4,5% and 5,2%, respectively.
Gas prices in Namibia have also shot up, increasing by 13,1% over the last 12 months.
Double-digit increases started in late December.
Regarding drinks, wines are averagely well priced, with prices increasing only by less than 1% every month over the past 12 months.
Oxford Economics analyst Gerrit van Rooyen says despite the high month rate forecast, inflation increased to an average of 5,9% this year – although risks are skewed to the upside.
“We currently project that inflation will peak at 7,1% year on year in Q3 2022, and then ease back to 6,5% year on year in the last quarter of this year in line with an anticipated moderation in global fuel and food prices,” he says.
The analysts say the Bank of Namibia (BoN) is expected to raise the repo rate by a further 125 basis points to 6% by year-end to contain inflation and to support the one-to-one peg with the South African rand.
“The BoN is likely to mirror the South African Reserve Bank’s latest policy decision to hike interest rates by 75 basis points when the next Namibian monetary policy rate announcement is made.
“This would bring the Namibian repo rate to 5,5%.
“The increases in interest rates and inflation this year will act as a significant strain on household consumption and weigh on business conditions,” Van Rooyen says.
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The list, which contains both food and non-food items, was adopted from the Namibia Statistics Agency’s inflation data for the month, which saw inflation for services for the month coming in at 2,5% and a whopping 10% for goods.
Other than rice, food items which have recorded deflation during July and past months include dried, smoked or salted fish, seafood, apples, grapes, beetroot, cabbage, pumpkins, squashes, sweet potatoes, and spinach.
The price of rice, considered a staple food for many Namibian households, has been on a decline of about 2,5% since February.
The cheapest food item according to the data was spinach, with prices down 37%, followed by cabbage with a 26,7% decrease, and beetroot and sweet potatoes dropping with 12,8% and 7,8%, respectively.
Other listed food items were all recorded at below 5%.
Simonis Storm Securities analyst Theo Klein says food inflation appears to decline globally, and this can take some time to lower food price inflation rates in Namibia.
Most food items Namibia still imports have high price increases recorded at double digits.
Food items such as cooking oil, canned meat, avocados, mealies, ice cream, honey, vinegar, coffee, and bottled water continue to edge up.
Non-food items such as furniture and furnishings, household textiles, shoes, men’s and women’s clothes and medical products, appliances and equipment are some of those which recorded price decreases, but not more than 7%.
Klein says while there are a number of deflationary pressures globally, expectations are that inflation will remain at elevated levels in Namibia for the next couple of months, “owing to international price pressures that are delayed in filtering through to Namibia and due to rand weakness”.
These price decreases may therefore be short-lived or could be prolonged, depending on the performance of international trades.
Although the average inflation for the month was low at 6,8% for the whole country – the central Khomas region, or zone 2, was rather expensive to live in, with a 7,7% zonal rate, followed by zone 3 (Erongo, Otjozonjupa and the south) at 6,6%, and the northern regions at 6,2%.
Miscellaneous, yet important services, such as learning to drive with an instructor, have become more expensive over the past 12 months, with an average price increase of 9,4%.
Cars on average were 5,1% more expensive in July, while motorcycles and bicycles were 8,1% and 2,2% more expensive, respectively.
Movers also jacked up their prices, though not as steep.
Desmond Shapaka, a manager at Birdies Movers and Trekwerk, says they had to increase prices because of the increase in the price of fuel.
“Diesel went up, and now people rarely move. It is not the same as when the Angolans were here,” he says.
Shapaka says because of fewer moves, the workforce also had to be reduced, and bringing on casuals to assist was another reason why they had to increase their prices, to make sure the profits are reasonable.
On transport, only rail tickets are flat.
Other means of transport, such as taxis and buses experienced a deflation in July at 4,5% and 5,2%, respectively.
Gas prices in Namibia have also shot up, increasing by 13,1% over the last 12 months.
Double-digit increases started in late December.
Regarding drinks, wines are averagely well priced, with prices increasing only by less than 1% every month over the past 12 months.
Oxford Economics analyst Gerrit van Rooyen says despite the high month rate forecast, inflation increased to an average of 5,9% this year – although risks are skewed to the upside.
“We currently project that inflation will peak at 7,1% year on year in Q3 2022, and then ease back to 6,5% year on year in the last quarter of this year in line with an anticipated moderation in global fuel and food prices,” he says.
The analysts say the Bank of Namibia (BoN) is expected to raise the repo rate by a further 125 basis points to 6% by year-end to contain inflation and to support the one-to-one peg with the South African rand.
“The BoN is likely to mirror the South African Reserve Bank’s latest policy decision to hike interest rates by 75 basis points when the next Namibian monetary policy rate announcement is made.
“This would bring the Namibian repo rate to 5,5%.
“The increases in interest rates and inflation this year will act as a significant strain on household consumption and weigh on business conditions,” Van Rooyen says.
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