Figures from the National Statistical Office (NSO) show that inflation rate increased from 9% to 9.3%. Food inflation, on the other hand, rose by 0.5 percentage points to 14.2% while non-food inflation rose by 0.1 percentage points to 5.5%.

Maize prices on the produce market have also been rising, with a bag of 50 kilogram (kg) fetching K13 000 or K260 per kg in some markets.

On Friday, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Kondwani Nankhumwa said the increasing maize prices have been worsened by declining stocks from the previous season held by smallholder farmers, resulting in increased demand for maize across the country. Meanwhile, Admarc, is failing to buy maize at K150 per kg and the resolve by farmers is to sell the grain to traders at between K180 and K230 per kg.