Consumption Expenditure News
- Consumer price indices of Hong Kong rise 1.6 pct in August
Date: 21-Sep-2007 Sources: (People's Daily)
Hong Kong's overall consumer prices rose by 1.6 percent in August over a year earlier, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) released here on Thursday by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department (C&SD).
The Budget measure of rates concession for the first two quarters of 2007/08 continued to carry effect on the CPIs in August. Netting out this factor, the year-on-year increase in the Composite CPI was 2.7 percent in August 2007.
The larger year-on-year increase in the Composite CPI in August 2007 (1.6 percent) than in July (1.5 percent) was mainly due to the enlarged year-on-year increase in food prices, up from 3.6 percent in July to 4.6 percent in August. On the other hand, the cut in the rental of Housing Authority's housing estates as from August 2007 partly offset the impact of the higher food prices, according to the CPI.
Amongst the various CPI components, larger year-on-year increase in prices was recorded for food in August. Food items showing large price increases were pork (31.4 percent in the Composite CPI as compared with a year earlier); eggs (27.9 percent) ; canned meat (20.7 percent); beef (15.8 percent); frozen meat (14. 9 percent); poultry (12.1 percent); other meat (12.1 percent); rice (11.7 percent); edible oils (10.4 percent) and salt-water fish (10.2 percent).
A Government spokesman pointed out that the higher rate of increase in the Composite CPI in August was mainly caused by enlarged increases across the prices of a broad range of basic food items as well as in the charges for meals bought away from home. Yet the underlying inflation rate at 2.7 percent was still rather moderate.
The spokesman added that looking ahead, higher food prices will continue to pose an upside risk to inflation. With the favorable effect of the rates concession fading out after September, the headline inflation rate is expected to edge higher in the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, the recent cut in public housing rentals and sustained labor productivity growth will provide some cushioning effect.
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