East African Business Week

DAR ES SALAAM,TANZANIA's annual headline inflation has continued to increase unabated in the year ending May to reach 9.7%, triggered mainly by high food and oil price indices.
Previous monthly inflation stood at 8.6%, calculated on year-to-year basis.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement last week that year-to-year food and non alcoholic beverages inflation rate increased to 10.4 per cent up from 9.7% the previous month. Housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel index shot to 15.7%
Presenting the April's inflation figure, NBS's Director of Population Census and Social Statistics, Mr Ephraim Kwesigabo, said the rate though, in single digit is "worrisome."
Economic analysts worry that the budget may not tame the inflation as a result of the shilling's free fall. In the last one month alone, the local currency tumbled by about 3.2 per%.
"For a country that imports many goods, we may still see inflation due to the weak shilling," Dr Honest Ngowi, a don at Mzumbe University Dar es Salaam Business School, said.
Tanzanian inflation is caused by imported inflation due to imports from inflation-ridden countries that are Tanzania's trade partners. China and Kenya are among such countries.
"This kind of inflation has not been explicitly addressed in the budget. In fact, even the colossal planned expenditure may be inflationary," Dr Ngowi said.
China's inflation stood at 5.4% in May 2011 while Kenya's inflation in May was 12.5%.