Uganda’s May Inflation Hits 16% On Higher Food Prices

By Nicholas Bariyo ~ KAMPALA Uganda -(Dow Jones)- Uganda’s May annual headline inflation accelerated to 16%, from 14.1% in April, the highest levels in over a decade, propelled by higher food and fuel prices, the state-run Uganda Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.

The statistics body said that the country’s food crop inflation registered an annual inflation rate of 44.1 % for the year ending May 31 from 39.3% in April. Higher good prices are attributable to a drought in the country in late 2010 and early this year, which hurt yields.

Higher food and fuel prices have triggered anti-government protest since April threatening President Museveni’s 25-year grip on power. However, in recent days, the protests have subsided, mainly due to the deadly crackdown by security forces and the temporary withdrawal of main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye.

Besigye, who has been arrested several times since the protests started, was shot in the hand in April. He traveled to U.S. last week where he is expected to receive specialized treatment on injuries sustained during his violent arrest last month as he led the protests.
The crackdown has left at least a dozen people dead and more than a hundred nursing gunshot wounds.

Until last year, Uganda was Africa’s second largest exporter of food to the United Nations World Food Program after South Africa, before the drought cut yields.
Uganda, Africa’s largest robusta coffee grower, is set to start oil production in its Lake Albertine rift basin next year.

Article Source: http://www.foxbusiness.com