In March, headline inflation remained at 3.0 percent, unchanged from February. According to the latest data from Statistics Botswana, inflation increased for: food and non-alcoholic beverages (from 1.5 to 1.9 percent); housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (from 9.7 to 10.5 percent); and miscellaneous goods and services (from 7.0 to 7.2 percent). However, this was offset by inflation easing with respect to: alcoholic beverages and tobacco (from 3.1 to 2.0 percent); clothing and footwear (from 7.4 to 7.2 percent); furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (from 3.6 to 3.2 percent); recreation and culture (from 6.8 to 6.7 percent); and restaurants and hotels (from 4.4 to 4.2 percent). Inflation was unchanged for: health (3.4 percent); transport (-3.2 percent); communication (0.5 percent); and education (3.7 percent).

The trimmed mean measures of core inflation decreased from 2.6 to 2.5 percent, while inflation excluding administered prices remained unchanged at 3.7 percent.