Latest Economy of Africa Stories

Canada's consumer price index rose 1.1 percent in the 12 months to January, kept partially in check by lower gasoline prices, Statistics Canada said Friday. The gain follows a 1.2 percent increase in December and the federal agency said the rate of change has been slowing since September. Gasoline prices in January 2009 were 23.5 percent below the level in the same month in 2008, StatsCan said, adding overall energy prices fell 10.9 percent in January. Food prices, particularly bakery,...

The Producer Price Index for finished goods in the United States fell 1.9 percent in December, pushed by falling energy prices, the government said Thursday. Prices paid by producers rose 0.2 percent with food and energy prices taken out of the picture. Food prices during the month fell 1.5 percent, while energy costs dropped 9.3 percent, the Department of Labor Statistics said. In November, energy costs dropped 11.2 percent. The index for durable good materials fell 7.2 percent, including a...

U.S. producers paid 2.2 percent less for finished goods in November, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday. November's price declines follow a drop of 2.8 percent in October and 0.4 percent in September. In the month, core inflation for manufacturers, excluding food and energy costs, rolled back 0.1 percent. Indeed, energy prices led the decline with a monthly drop of 11.2 percent, following a 12.8-percent drop in October. Prices paid by producers for natural gas dropped 4.6 percent in...

F armers across the country have faced their own crisis this year with the wettest harvest for more than 20 years. The optimism of the spring has been replaced by despair - and although we have experienced an Indian summer, it came along too late for many. The financial impact of the wet harvest is likely to be severe, with many businesses having lost tens of thousands of pounds. Yet as farmers begin to face the financial consequences, reports suggest that consumers should see food prices...

By Anonymous Retail food prices in the third quarter rose by 4 percent from the second quarter and by 10.5 percent from the third quarter of 2007, the American Farm Bureau Federation reported. High energy prices boosted the cost of several staple foods as reflected in sustained high costs for processing, hauling and refrigerating foods, the Federation said in a release. The group's Marketbasket Survey tracks the cost of 16 basic grocery items. Potatoes, cheddar cheese and apples showed the...

By Steve Dube WEWERE always taught that the price of bread fuelled the French revolution - particularly when Queen Marie Antoinette, told that people could no longer afford it, replied: "Let them eat cake." Now we are told that the era of cheap food is over - and the era of cheap money for those who already have vast amounts of it also seems to be at an end. But we may be talking too soon. The money-go-round manipulators are not done yet. And it looks as though we are...

By KYLE ARNOLD The price of a gallon of milk and a bucket of fertilizer may seem miles apart, but supermarket shoppers and farmers alike are finding little shelter from rising prices. The government's Consumer Price Index report released this week shows basic food staples such as milk, eggs, ground beef and bread continue to lead price increases. Dairy products, meats and other staples are almost without exception outpacing the overall food and beverage inflation rate of 5.9 percent....

By Lindsay McIntosh Farmers and consumers will be counting the cost of this summer's bad weather, writes Lindsay McIntosh THE overnight flood devastated the farm at Belford on Bowmont, churning up surrounding roads, ripping through fences and propelling terrified animals through mangled fields. In the sodden aftermath, farmer Richard Mather began to put back together the land and infrastructure which his father had built up in the Scottish Borders. In total, he estimated the damage to run...

Text of article in English by Muhsen Nazari entitled "Further food price hikes expected" published by independent Afghan newspaper Kabul Weekly on 10 September The cost of food and fuel in Afghanistan shot up this year with some items even doubling in price from last year. Now importers are warning the government of a further 30 per cent rise by the end of the year. Last December the government of Pakistan stopped the private sector from exporting wheat to Afghanistan after the increase in...

Text of report by economic desk entitled "Trade Minister's request to reporters: Do not provoke the market by speaking about high prices" published in Iranian newspaper Aftab-e Yazd on 8 September 2008 Instability in prices [of commodities] has upset the market even as some officials are vehemently denying rise in prices and attempts are made to downplay the harmful effects [of price rises] on people in real life. While the Central Bank has officially stated that the price of many goods...