By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Principal statistician at Statistics Sierra Leone has disclosed that the inflationary trend in the country “has risen and will continue to rise due to restricted movements in farming communities and the depreciation of the country’s currency.”
Samuel Turay said that following the quarantining of Kenema and Kailahun districts some three months ago and the closure of the popular open markets, or Lumor, the prices of basic foodstuff in the country had taken an upward trend, adding that the two districts were some of the breadbaskets of the country.
He said that of the 400 items in the consumer price index, 48% were foodstuff. “In May this year, the inflation rate stood as 6.54%, 6.74% in June, 6.91% in July, 7.45% in August and 8.1% in September. And we are yet to release the percentage for October,” he pointed out.
Turay also said that the shipping industry was badly affected as there had been a drastic drop in the number of ships entering the country, something he said was directly reflected in the low stock of goods coming into the country.
“Whenever there is scarcity of goods in the country and demand increases there will definitely be an increase in price,” the Principal Statistician added.
Asked whether the country had reached a hyper-inflationary situation, he clarified that the country would be said to have reached such a situation when the inflation rate took double digits “that is, above 10%”.
The disruption of agriculture and transportation, among others, following the outbreak of the Ebola Viral Disease in Sierra Leone, had had a negative impact on inflation as well as the overall growth prospects of the economy, according to a report on “The Impact of The Ebola Outbreak In the Country,” presented in August by Kaifala Marah, minister of finance.
The report indicated that the Ebola outbreak had posed a huge threat to the macro-economic stability and human development of the country, adding that the crisis was likely to reverse the gains made in poverty reduction if the spread of the disease was not contained in the shortest possible time.
© Politico 04/11/14
