Angola: Inflation comes in at highest level since October 2017 in May
Consumer prices increased 2.21% in May over the previous month, a smaller increase than April’s 2.32% increase. May’s result marked the softest rise in prices since January. The print was driven by softer price increases for food and non-alcoholic beverages, and communications.
Inflation came in at 28.0% in May, which was up from April’s 27.7%. May’s result marked the highest inflation rate since October 2017. Meanwhile, annual average inflation rose to 24.9% in May from 24.3% in April.
Analysts at The EIU added:
“We expect annual inflation to ease slightly in the coming months, benefiting from some local-currency appreciation, which will ease imported price pressures. However, we forecast that the impact will be relatively marginal, with inflation remaining fairly high (averaging 22.2% in 2021). We expect annual inflation to slow more markedly over the remainder of the forecast period as higher export earnings in 2021-23 temper the rate of currency depreciation. However, the eventual reduction in several subsidies, such as those for electricity and fuel, will keep prices fairly high.”