The National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) has set aside K8 billion for buying maize, therefore calling bids for tenders. Confirming the development, NFRA CEO Nasinuku Saukira called for the tenders, but could not reveal how much maize the agency was willing to buy.

Last week, Agriculture Minister, Kondwani Nankhumwa announced that NFRA has been directed to start buying maize at the same price of around K200 per kg. “By so doing, shortly we are going to flood the country with maize, so that we stabilise maize prices in the country” said Nankhumwa.

However, Admarc selling price for maize at Admarc stands at K150 per kg. The development comes as figures from the National Statistical Office (NSO) Stats Flash 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 percent while non-food inflation rose by 0.1 percentage points to 5.5%.