By Jane Chanda
Economist Partner Siabutuba says the stability in annual inflation rate is due to the steady flow of food on the market from the harvesting season, which has reduced the scramble for cheap Zambia National Service (ZNS) mealie meal.
But Siabutuba observed that the reduction in inflation will only become meaningful if accompanied by reduction in the cost of living.
The Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) data shows that the annual inflation rate for April 2025, remained unchanged at 16.5 percent, due to price movements in non-food items.
In an interview with Daily Revelation yesterday, Siabutuba attributed the stability in inflation to the availability of food on the market from the harvesting season, which reduced the rush for food.
“It was anticipated that inflation will not significantly change. If it changed, the expectation was that it was going to reduce. What was going to make it come down was the availability of food harvesting that is currently going on,” Siabutuba said.
He said the stable supply of food and its availability on the market contributed to the stability in inflation.
He also said the government needed to push the inflation rate down to reduce the cost of living and that the availability of food on the market should lead to a reduction in food prices, which would impact the general cost of living.
Siabutuba said the reduction in inflation would only be meaningful if it was accompanied by a reduction in the cost of living.
“So alongside the reduction in inflation, in itself, it will not make any meaning but if we begin to observe the reduction in the cost of living, then you will begin to make sense out of it,” said Siabutuba.
