(Business in Cameroon) - In the first nine months of the 2020 financial year, the general price level rose by 2.5% year-over-year. This is below the 3% threshold in the CEMAC region, according to a report on changes in price levels over the said period published on December 10, 2020, by the National Institute for Statistics (INS).

“The inflationary tendencies were spurred by food products, despite the measures implemented by the government to preserve households’ purchasing power,” the INS writes.

“The rise in food products’ price level was mainly due to an increase in the prices of fruits (+9.4%), vegetables (+7.2%), meat (+4.0%) as well as bread and cereals (+3.5%),” it adds.

Besides food products, the increase in the cost of living in Cameroon between January and September 2020 is also due to the rise in the prices of housing, water, gas, electricity and other fuels (+3.4%), restaurants and hotels (+3.1%), as well as clothing and footwear (+2.6%), according to the institute.

BRM