LIFE MORE DIFFICULT FOR LOW-INCOME RWANDANS

UNCLAS KIGALI 001146 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C DEPARTMENT PASS USTDA: EEBONG DEPARTMENT PASS USTR: WJACKSON DEPARTMENT PASS COMMERCE: RTELCHIN DEPARTMENT PASS OPIC: BCAMERON ADDIS FOR LISA BRODEY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN ECON PGOV EINV ENRG ETRD EPET BTIO RW SUBJECT: LIFE MORE DIFFICULT FOR LOW-INCOME RWANDANS REF: Kigali 1005 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Inflation in Rwanda is officially reported at under 10 percent but the reality behind the numbers is much more serious for low-income Rwandans, the majority of the population. Certain food prices have increased as much as 350 percent and virtually none less than 10 percent over the past year or two. Life has become increasingly difficult for urban Rwandans, as many eliminate educational spending, or become more indebted to local banks to make ends meet. Explanations for the increased food prices range include cross-border trading inefficiencies, poor harvests, and excess foreign reserves coming into the country through foreign aid. END SUMMARY. INFLATION DATA ¶2. (SBU) The Ministry of Finance established the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NIS) in 2006 to collect economic data and to compile relevant statistics, including inflation. The Rwandan consumer price index (CPI) is calculated through a basket of goods that is overwhelmingly weighted towards food (37 percent) and housing costs (16 percent),including rent, water, and electricity. Ernest Mwuzi, Director at NIS, reported that NIS publishes the CPI every month and takes an average of the previous twelve months for the annual rate of inflation. ¶3. (SBU) Lars Engstrom, IMF country representative, says that his office signs off on the NIS inflation numbers and that he believes the NIS inflation figures to be accurate. Not only does Engstrom report confidence in NIS inflation data, but he credits the Rwandan Ministry of Finance and Central Bank with keeping inflation within the acceptable single digit target. COST OF LIVING RISING ¶4. (SBU) While Engstrom reported that the Rwandan inflation numbers are accurate and within target, he acknowledged that inflation data does not tell the full story regarding the daily life of everyday Rwandans, most of whom live on less than a dollar a day. Inflation, as calculated by the IMF and NIS, includes the costs for clothing, transport, restaurant dining, hotel stays, and recreation, for example, which are not typical items in most poor Rwandans' monthly expenses. Engstrom warned that �0A;inflation data is a tool to help guide monetary policy, not necessarily an accurate measure of the quality of life or the cost of living for all socio-economic groups. The basket of goods used to calculate inflation is large enough to dilute changes in food prices if the non-food items increased at a much lower rate, he noted. ¶5. (SBU) Informal surveys and questionnaires of Embassy local staff, housekeepers, and guards conducted periodically by the Embassy economic staff over the past two years showed that individuals' top ten expenses - rent, rice, sugar, milk, potatoes, cooking oil, school fees, beans, flour, and charcoal have increased significantly and steadily. (Note: this Embassy survey represents the growing urban population living in Kigali and other towns, not the 80-85 percent of the population that lives on subsistence agriculture in the countryside). As Mwuzi explained, there are seasonal fluctuations in food prices, but most staples in a Rwandan diet have increased from a year or two ago. For example, prices for potatoes in November dropped 50 percent, back to where they were last year. But sugar, beans, and charcoal have each sustained increases of 300 percent in two years. Milk, cooking oil, and many vegetables have experienced increases of 100 percent since 2005, while school fees and rent increases have ranged up to 50 percent since 2005. (Note: a few individuals reported no changes in prices over two years). ¶6. (SBU) Individuals surveyed responded, almost universally, that making ends meet -- feeding the family and sending children to school -- is much more difficult now than it was two years ago, and even six months ago. Several respondents reported having to move to smaller and cheaper homes, reducing the number of meals they take in a day, withdrawing their children from school, and taking out more loans. In fact, all respondents reported making ends meet through bank loans, mostly small microfinance loans to pay for electricity, school fees, weddings, or funerals. POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS ¶7. (SBU) Secretary General of the Ministry of Commerce, Justin Nsumviyunga, explains that Rwanda is a net importer of almost all staples and thus is affected by the internal dynamics of its neighboring countries. For example, he reported that 40 percent of the beans sold in Rwanda come from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He argued that conflict in Eastern DRC affects both the ability to grow crops and the ability to get them to market. Nsumviyunga predicted that continued instability in Eastern DRC will further destabilize food availability and prices in Rwanda. Similarly, Nsumviyunga reported that wholesale fuel prices have increased 38 percent since June due to "a worldwide shortage." The GOR controls pump prices to mitigate the increase in the world oil price, but Nsumviyunga surmised that the GOR may no longer be able to match these increases from its budget and, thus, consumers will have to bear the weight of these increases (Note: gasoline prices in Rwanda recently increased 11 percent). Increased fuel costs are not only reflected directly in the CPI, but impact the cost of imported food, which relies on transport costs to reach Rwanda. ¶8. (SBU) World Food Program (WFP) country director Maarit Hirvonen pointed to the recent floods and droughts in the north of the country as possible explanations for the price increases. She believed these natural phenomena, including lower rainfall in some regions, have reduced the domestic supply. (Note: a recent USAID survey found the effects of the recent floods to be locally contained, with little impact on national food supplies and prices). Hirvonen further reported that storage facilities are seriously lacking around the country, and thus the ability to store bumper harvests and lessen the impact of later poor harvests is severely limited. Luckily for Rwanda, failed harvests, natural disasters, and overall food security have in the past been effectively dealt with via WFP and organizations such as the Red Cross and World Relief. ¶9. (SBU) Abdul Nur Ndarubogoye, a wholesale importer of sugar, rice, and cooking oil reported that he, along with his competitors, buys as much quantity as he can afford, knowing that the market is undersupplied. However, he and other wholesalers and retailers lack access to sufficient capital to carry much stock - they are at the mercy of temporary price spikes as much as Rwandan consumers. Delays in customs, poor roads, and other non-tariff barriers create additional challenges which affect their ability to bring products to market quickly and consistently. These market inefficiencies may partly explain the sustained price increases experienced in the past few years. ¶10. (SBU) Rwanda receives a great deal of aid - almost 50 percent of the budget is funded by donors, which does not include large amounts of project support and off-budget donor aid. Each increase in donor commitment essentially results in more money chasing the same amount of goods, including essential food items. Engstrom explained that the simplest way to relieve this inflationary pressure is to reduce the build up of foreign currency in the country through "sterilization" by the Central Bank (through issuance of treasury bills). These efforts have been largely effective, he noted, but the Bank lacks the full range of monetary tools to do so as comprehensively as more advanced economies. (Note: a U.S. Treasury officer has been assisting the Bank in setting up a treasury bond market, a more supple monetary tool). ¶11. (SBU) Comment. According to the IMF, Rwanda should be commended for keeping inflation in the single digits over the past two years. However, the main determinant of inflation, the CPI, is a single basket of goods, and it does not always accurately reflect how the most disadvantaged populations in Rwanda live. Life continues to be difficult for those on the lowest ends of the socio- economic spectrum - not a phenomenon unique to Rwanda, but significant nonetheless. Anecdotal evidence suggests many average families are increasingly struggling to make ends meet. Storage facilities for good harvests, infrastructure development to bring food and other goods to market efficiently, the easing of cross-border trade barriers, investment in modern agricultural techniques, and real peace in the region - all are necessary to bring Rwanda's people a better life. End comment. SIM