PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

The Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda has the honour to inform the public that on December 24^th – 26^thas well as on December 31^st, January 1^stand2^ndthe embassywill be closed in observance of Christmas and New Year holidays.

Regular opening hours apply on December 27^th, 28^thand from January 3^rdonwards.

Stockholm, 20^thDecember 2018

Rwanda records drop in poverty levels

By Eugène Kwibuka/NewTimes

More Rwandans registered a significant improvement in their living conditions despite a marginal drop in poverty levels over the last three years, according National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).

Poverty levels dropped by one percentage point from 39.1 per cent in the 2013/14 fiscal year to 38.2 per cent in 2016/17, the statistics body said in its fifth Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV5), launched on Thursday.

The Director General of NISR, Yusuf Murangwa, said that the slow drop in poverty was due to sustained drought that hit the country in 2016, roiling agricultural output. More