The average inflation rate in September 2020 was 5.81 percent, and inflation has been declining for seven consecutive months since March 2020, according to the Consumer Price and Inflation Index released by the Central Statistics Office. The average inflation rate rose for 18 consecutive months from April 2018 to September 2019. It fell slightly in October and November 2019, and in December 2019. As of September 2020, the average annual rate of inflation is 5.81 percent, and the average annual rate of inflation-core inflation, excluding food and fuel prices, is 11.23 percent. The annual on-year inflation rate is 2.03 percent, and the calculated annual year-on-year inflation rate excluding food and fuel prices is 4.74 percent. However, since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Myanmar in March 2020, declining household consumption and falling fuel prices pushed year-on-year inflation from March 2020 to 2.03 percent in September.
For the country as a whole, the average inflation rate, based on consumer prices in the 2012 base year, averaged 5.81 percent year-on-year through September 2020, down 0.62 percent from 6.43 percent a year on-August 2020. The average inflation rate from October 2019 to September 2020 rose from 8.61 percent in September 2019 to a record high of 9.20 percent in February 2020. However, in September 2020, due to the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic in Myanmar, public consumption declined and consumer price growth slowed. In September 2020, the average inflation rate in Ayeyarwady Region was the first highest at 10.83%. Mandalay is the second highest with 9.54%. It was the third highest in the Union Territory with 7.48%.
Annual inflation was the highest change rate in the Union Territory at 5.53% and the lowest in Mon State at 2.80%. Inflation is the long-term increase in general prices, which means that the prices of basic commodities continue to rise. For a period of time, when the general price of goods and services in the business environment rises, the same unit of currency can be purchased, but less goods and services can be purchased. In other words, inflation affects the purchasing power of money. It depreciates the value of a currency unit. The measure of inflation is called the Inflation Rate, which refers to the annual percentage change in a general price index, called the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Source: Daily Eleven