Consumer Price Index

23.FEB.07

DECEMBER 2006

The Consumer Price Index for the month of December, registered a 0.5 percent decline over the month of November, 2006. The “All Items” index stood at 114.3 compared with 113.7 for the previous month. The “point-to-point” inflation rate was recorded at 4.8 percent. Seven (7) of the eleven (11) groups, namely; “Food”, “Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco”, “Housing”, “Household Furniture and Supplies”, “Education”, “Personal Services” and “Miscellaneous” recorded increases during the month. The group “Fuel and Light” was the sole group to witness a decrease. The remaining groups “Clothing and Footwear”, “Medical Care and Expenses” and “Transport and Communication” remained unchanged. {{more}} The “Food” index grew by 0.9 percent due to higher prices for the following items; pumpkins (34.3 percent), lentil peas (33.5 percent), breadfruit (20.0 percent), eggplant (18.6 percent), yams (11.5 percent), eddoes (6.0 percent) and codfish (3.9 percent). The 0.2 percent increase in the “Housing” index was due to higher prices for emulsion paint (5.5 percent) and cement (2.5 percent). “Personal Services” index also grew by 1.2 percent due to an increase in the price for toothpaste (2.7 percent). Similarly, the group “Miscellaneous” rose by 1.7 percent due to an increase in the price for meals taken away from home (10.4 percent). Meanwhile, the group “Fuel and Light” declined by 2.1 percent as the cost of electricity fell by (5.3 percent ) due to a lower fuel surcharge for the month of December, 2006.