Clothing, footwear push up price index

The 12-month moving average rate of inflation last month stood at 3.46 per cent, while the annual rate stood at 1.18 per cent, according to the National Statistics Office.

The NSO said the retail price index went up to 118.22 in September from 117.69 in August.

This primarily reflected an increase of 7.65 per cent in the clothing and footwear index, mainly on account of seasonal price increases in women's outerwear.

A rise of 0.91 per cent was recorded in the food index, mainly due to the increase in fish prices. The water, electricity, gas and fuels index went up by 0.44 per cent, mainly due to higher kerosene prices.

Costlier household appliances made the equipment and house maintenance cost index go up by 0.23 per cent.

A similar rise was registered in the personal care and health index; this time as a result of costlier medicines. Upward shifts in the price of certain jewellery items caused the other goods and services index to go up by 0.15 per cent.

The housing index went up by 0.07 per cent, mainly on account of price increases in certain materials used in construction.

The transport and communication index went down by 1.21 per cent, mainly due to lower air tariffs. Downward shifts in the prices of audio-visual equipment underlay a decrease of 0.12 per cent in the recreation and culture index.