JOHANNESBURG: Namibia's annual consumer inflation quickened to a one-year high in April as prices of most goods increased, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.
Inflation accelerated to 4.8 percent year-on-year from 3.8 percent in March, the highest since April 2010 when it was at 5.0 percent.
Monthly inflation ticked up to 0.9 percent from 0.8 percent in March, the statistics agency said in a statement.
"The increase resulted from monthly increases recorded in all the groups except for hotels, cafes and restaurants and miscellaneous goods and services," it said.
Inflation has started to quicken across the region, mainly driven by food and higher fuel prices.
The International Monetary Fund warned early in May that food and fuel prices were an inflationary threat for the sub-Sahara region but monetary policy remains "looser than desirable."
Since the beginning of the year, Namibia's fuel prices have increased by over 20 percent and the country will raise them further on May 18.
At its last policy meeting on April 27, the central bank left its main interest rate unchanged at 6.0 percent but said inflationary pressures were starting to build.
But it said raising rates "at this point would run the risk of unduly depressing domestic demand" that was not the cause of inflation.
The Bank of Namibia's executive commission cut rates by a cumulative 450 basis points between December 2008 and December 2010, citing sluggish economic growth.
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