As the coronavirus pandemic has negatively affected the economic outlook in Malawi, the country has experienced a lowering inflation rate even after the first cases were registered in April this year. According to figures from the National Statistics Office (NAO) show that the inflation rate for June 2020 went down by 0.2 percentage points to 8.5% from 8.7%.
According to the NAO, food inflation rate stood at -0.8 percent compared to -3.2 percent in May, 2020 while non-food inflation is at 0.2 percent compared to 0.1 percent recorded may, 2020.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Malawi is amidst achieving a 5% inflation target by the first quarter of 2021, despite economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. On the other hand, projections from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), inflation will average 8.8% this year. EIU justified its prediction to lower global oil prices. Meanwhile, annual inflation rate in Malawi rose to 11.5% in December 2019 from 10.4% in November, marking as the highest inflation rate the country has recorded