Weakening shilling nudges up prices for processed goods

June 21, 2018 in Business by Editor

There was increase in the prices of Ugandan fish exports due to higher utility costs such as electricity.

June 21, 2018—A steadily weakening Uganda shilling against the US dollar has slightly pushed up prices for manufactured goods and utility services according to latest findings by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) in a report published on Thursday.

“In the reviewed year we saw the price for utilities going up by 1.4% and that of the manufactured goods rising to 0.8%. For the utilities, prices were driven up by the depreciation of the local currency against the dollar since the power generated is charged in foreign currency by the generators,” Peter Opio, the Director for Business and Industry Statistics at UBOS said.

According to Bank of Uganda figures, the interbank average exchange rate for May 2017 was UGX 3607 compared to UGX 3768 last month.

The Producers Price Index report for the manufacturing and utility sectors shows the combined producers’ prices for manufactured goods and utilities for the year ending May 2018 increased by 0.9 percent compared to the 1.2 percent increase recorded for the year ended April 2018.

The Index measures changes in the prices of goods and services either as the items leave production sites or as they enter the production process.

On monthly changes in the producers prices for manufacturing and utility services, the UBOS report indicates average prices increased by 0.3 % in May 2018 as compared to 0.7% registered in April 2018. UBOS says prices for both manufactured goods destined for the domestic market and items for exports also increased accordingly.

“Prices for manufactured goods produced for domestic consumption increased by 0.1% in May and the main drivers were increase in the prices of fabricated metals whose rate went up by 1.4% in May from decrease of 1.6% recorded in April 2018 attributed to high cost of raw materials. The second factor to the 0.1% is the increase in processed food prices in the reviewed month,” Opio told a news conference.

For the export of manufactured goods, prices went up by 0.5 percent in May, the drivers being an increase in the prices of processed fish, up by 0.8 % and that of manufactured edible oils.