Year-on-year, prices rose faster for food and non-alcoholic beverages (11 percent vs 8.7 percent in February); transport (1.5 percent vs 0.6 percent); clothing and footwear (3.4 percent vs 3.2 percent) and furnishing (3.9 percent vs 3.8 percent). In addition, prices fell less for communication (-0.1 percent vs -1.5 percent). In contrast, cost increased less for housing and utilities (6.8 percent vs 8.7 percent) and restaurants and hotels (3.6 percent vs 3.9 percent).
Annual core inflation, which excludes food and energy, was steady at 2.2 percent.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 1.4 percent, higher than 1 percent in February, boosted by a 2.8 percent increase in cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages, namely rice (4.7 percent); sugar (3.9 percent); maize flour (6.7 percent); sorghum grain (4.1 percent); cooking banana (4.6 percent); fresh cassava (7.7 percent); vegetables (4 percent) and dried sardines (3.2 percent). Additional upward pressure came from cooking gas (11.9 percent), petrol (4.6 percent) and diesel (3.2 percent).