综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

March CPI up 1.2%; relief measures ease price rise

Updated: 2009-04-24 05:43

By Joey Kwok(HK Edition)

  Print Mail Large Medium  Small

HONG KONG: Inflation in the city is easing and this is amply reflected by the moderate 1.2 percent rise in the consumer price index (CPI) last month, government data show.

An analyst and a government spokesman both predicted yesterday inflationary pressures to ease further in the coming months as Hong Kong's economy continues to feel the adverse impact of global recesion.

Billy Mak, associate professor of finance and decision sciences at Hong Kong Baptist University, described as "reasonable" underlying inflation in March.

He noted, however, last month's CPI should have recorded a drop instead of an increase amid a continued rise in unemployment, resulting in reduced consumer spending.

Meanwhile, a government spokesman said consumer price inflation came down further in March from February and January as it reflected "the recent easing of private housing rentals and food prices, as well as weaker demand conditions."

He also noted that various one-off government relief measures, notably subsidy on power consumption, helped ease the rise in CPI.

If government subsidies on public services and utility chargers were to be excluded, the underlying inflation rate in March would have come in at 2.6 percent, significantly lower than the average 3.3 percent in January and February, the Census and Statistics Department said yesterday.

The spokesman said inflationary pressures are likely to recede further looking ahead, in the face of the global economic downturn.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the average monthly rate of composite CPI for the three-month period ended March was virtually stagnant, while the corresponding rate from December 2008 to February 2009 dropped 0.2 percent.

Alcoholic drinks and tobacco recorded the steepest year-on-year price rise in March, jumping 22.2 percent, followed by housing and food, which rose 5.7 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.

However, significant falls were recorded in the price movements of various items. Electricity, gas and water recorded a year-on-year decline of 42.9 percent, thanks to the government's temporary waivers on the payment of quarterly property taxes and its extra subsidies on utilities charges last year.

Durable goods and miscellaneous services, meanwhile, also showed a 2.5 percent drop last month.

In the first quarter of the year, composite CPI rose by 1.7 percent over a year earlier, while the corresponding increases, after netting out the government's one-off relief measures, amounted to 3.1 percent.

Baptist University's Mak said Hong Kong's CPI in the coming months will be affected by several factors.

These include the exchange rate of the yuan against major currencies, the inflation situation on the mainland and the movement of prices of goods which the city imports from China and the rest of the world.

(HK Edition 04/24/2009 page3)

正蓝旗| 武安市| 拜城县| 合江县| 松滋市| 称多县| 友谊县| 汨罗市| 松滋市| 乃东县| 泉州市| 塔河县| 贺兰县| 建阳市| 星子县| 冷水江市| 和龙市| 抚顺市| 铜川市| 柯坪县| 庄浪县| 鹤峰县| 武鸣县| 沈丘县| 西盟| 印江| 抚顺市| 钟祥市| 中宁县| 泸水县| 馆陶县| 吴忠市| 海南省| 彰武县| 武功县| 成武县| 乐平市| 怀安县| 大埔区| 资兴市| 肥城市|