Food stocks held by National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) increased significantly to 244,169.5 tonnes in Q3, 2023 from 149,044.4 tonnes recorded during the corresponding period in 2022 according to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Economic Bulletin for the quarter ending September 2023.
According to the Central Bank report, annual food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation thus decreased to an average of 5.8 percent, from 7.5 percent in the quarter ending September 2022, largely associated with adequate food supply in markets, though fetched at relatively higher price.
The highest food price increase was recorded in beans and rice
“Despite price increase, food situation was satisfactory largely explained by good harvests in 2022/23 crop season,” the report says.
Meanwhile, energy, fuel and utilities inflation declined to an average of 0.1 percent, a substantial decline from 9.6 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter in 2022.
This was attributable to eased domestic pump prices, consistent with developments in the global market.
Core inflation however eased to an average of 2.2 percent from 3.3 percent in the corresponding quarter in 2022.
“Looking ahead, inflation is projected to experience a modest increase, primarily due to a rise of energy prices and imported inflation, but hovering within the target range of 3-5 percent in the near and
medium- term,” the report says.
