HOOD'S PERSPECTIVE

Persistent increase in food prices coupled with imported inflation have continued to make it difficult for government to bring down the country’s fast-rising inflation rate. Currently, Uganda’s annual headline inflation stands at 16 per cent moving from 14.1 per cent in April 2011. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics said yesterday that this is the highest inflation rate Uganda has seen since May 1994 when the annual inflation was 16.2 per cent. “Commodity food prices have continued to be the main driver of inflation in the country due to reduced supply and increased demand for food items,” said Mr Vicente Nsubuga Musoke, the principal statistician-price statistics, while releasing the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May 2011. Annual food inflation increased from 39.3 in April to 44.1 in May. The annual core inflation excludes food crops from the CPI and it is also what government uses to determine the overall inflation rate. The annual core inflation rose to 11.3 per cent in May up fromApr

Allow add my voice to the recent criticism of the expansion of the Ugandan govt cabinet. with over 40 ministers, why should we have 2 extra posts; that of the Minister of General Duties and the Minister without portfolio. can anyone there tell me the difference between those two posts. am confused