Consumer Price Index

31.AUG.07

JUNE 2007

The Consumer Price Index for the month of June 2007 registered a 0.8 percent decrease over the previous month. The All Items Index was 119.2 in June, compared to 120.2 in May 2007. The Point-to-Point inflation was 7.2 percent.

Six of eleven groups in the basket of goods and services increased over the month of May, three decreased, while the other two remained unchanged.{{more}}

The groups which increased were “Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco” (2.9 percent), “Housing” (0.2 percent), Fuel & Light (3.2 percent), “Household Furniture & Supplies” (0.2 percent), “Transport & Communication” (4.5 percent), and “Personal Services” (0.7 percent). The groups which decreased were “Food” (2.2 percent), “Clothing & Footwear” (0.6 percent), and “Miscellaneous” (0.8 percent). The groups which remained unchanged were “Medical Care & Expenses” and “Education”.

The increase in the group “Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco” was influenced by a price increase for red rum and whiskey of 9.1 and 0.1 percent, respectively. The price increase for galvanized sheets and cement resulted in an increase in the group “Housing”. The group “Fuel & Light” increased, due to an increase in the fuel surcharge. Similarly, the group “Household Furniture & Supplies” increased because of higher prices for living room sets (18.7 percent), beds (12.5 percent), crockery (4.0 percent) and gas stoves (4.0 percent).

A 21.1 percent increase in the price of petrol resulted in a 4.4 percent increase in the group “Transport & Communication”, while the group “Personal Services” moved in line with the increased prices of deodorant (1.5 percent), sanitary napkins (10.1 percent), and combs (4.2 percent).

The decrease in prices for several food items contributed to the lower group index of “Food”. These items included fish (25.0 percent), mangoes (21.4 percent), plantains (18.9 percent), codfish (9.5 percent), sweet peppers (6.7 percent), and sweet potatoes (3.1 percent).

The group “Clothing & Footwear” registered a decrease, as a result of the lower prices for stockings (16.7 percent), and textile material (6.4 percent).

Meanwhile, a 3.4 percent decrease in the price of television sets resulted in the decrease in the group “Miscellaneous”.

JULY 2007

During the month of July, 2007, the Consumer Price Index registered a 0.6 percent increase over the previous month. The “All Items” index stood at 119.9, compared with 119.2 for the previous month. The “point-to-point” inflation rate was recorded at 7.0 percent.

Four (4) groups recorded price increases during the month, namely “Food” (1.3 percent), Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco” (2.5 percent), “Education” (1.4 percent) and “Personal Services” (3.4 percent). The groups “Clothing & Footwear” (3.2 percent), “Housing” (0.01 percent), “Fuel & Light” (0.8 percent) and “Household Furniture & Supplies” (0.2 percent) recorded decreases, while, “Medical Care & Expenses”, “Transport & Communication”, and “Miscellaneous” remained unchanged.

The “Food” index grew by 1.3 percent, reflecting higher prices for several food items, namely; fish – robin (25.0 percent), powdered milk (23.2 percent), cabbage (12.7 percent), packaged rice (10.9 percent), eddoes (9.7 percent), onions (9.0 percent) and eggs (7.3 percent).

The 2.5 percent increase in the “Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco” group is attributed to increased prices for rum (6.7 percent) and stout (2.1 percent), whereas, the group “Education” recorded a 1.4 percent increase, due to increased price for a mathematics textbooks (6.9 percent).

The group “Personal Services” registered upward movement of 3.4 percent, due to higher prices for toothpaste (7.4 percent) and sanitary napkins (4.5 percent).

The “Housing” index recorded a marginal decrease during the month.

Similarly, the group “Clothing & Footwear” fell by 3.2 percent due to lower prices for men’s trousers (10.2 percent), whereas, the group “Household Furniture & Supplies” declined by 0.2 percent, as a result of a reduction in the cost for a living room set (9.0 percent) and powdered detergent (4.4 percent).

Meanwhile, the group “Fuel & Light” declined by 0.8 percent as the cost of electricity fell by (2.0 percent), due to a lower fuel surcharge for the month of July, 2007.