Ethiopia- Economy
APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
The Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency Tuesday announced that the national inflation rate for the month of December 2023 has gone up to 28.7 percent from 28.3 percent the previous month.
Food items prices accounted for 30.6 percent of the month’s (December) inflation, while non-food items accounted for 26.1 percent, resulting in the weakening of the local currency or Ethiopian Birr.
In general, the inflation was recorded in December as 28.7 percent from 28.3 percent in November, and there was a slight increase following the holidays, the service indicated.
Available data indicates that a US dollar is officially traded at about 56 per dollar and is almost double in a black market. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose by 0.7 percent in December, the least in seven months, after a 1.2 percent increase in the previous month.
The Ethiopian authorities are in talks with the IMF to borrow about $3.5 billion and a similar amount from the World Bank, according to Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia
Inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time. It is typically a broad measure, such as the overall increase in prices or the increase in the cost of living in a country.
MG/APA