Price index down slightly in June - NSO
The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices last month went down to 116.84
from 117.14 in June, the NSO said, a drop of 0.3 per cent.
The movement was caused primarily reflected by a drop of 12.1 per cent in the Clothing and Footwear Index on account of seasonal reductions. The Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages Index went down by 1.2 per cent as a result of lower fruit prices.
Cheaper materials for the maintenance and repair of dwellings caused the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels Index to go down by 0.2 per cent. The Furniture, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House Index edged down by 0.1 per cent, mainly due to a reduction in the price of household textiles and non-durable goods.
A similar downward shift was recorded in the Health Index, mostly due to lower prices of pharmaceutical products, and in the Communication Index due to lower-priced mobile phones.
The Transport Index went up by 1.9 per cent, mainly on account of costlier air fares.
Seasonally higher prices for accommodation services caused the Restaurants and Hotels Index to go up by 1.6 per cent. Higher-priced package holidays were the main reason behind an increase of 1.1 per cent in the Recreation and Culture Index. The Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco Index went up by 0.4 per cent, mainly due to a small increase in the price of wine.
Inflation
In July, the twelve-month moving average rate of inflation stood at 2.8 per cent, whereas the annual rate of inflation stood at 2.2 per cent (from 3.1 per cent in the previous month).
In the EU, the lowest annual inflation rates were observed in Ireland (1.0%), Slovenia (1.1%) and Sweden (1.6%), and the highest in Estonia (5.3%), Romania (4.9%) and Lithuania (4.6%). Compared with June 2011, annual inflation fell in sixteen Member States, remained stable in two and rose in nine.
The lowest 12-month averages4 up to July 2011 were registered in Ireland (0.3%), Sweden (1.6%), the Czech Republic and the Netherlands (1.9% each), and the highest in Romania (7.6%), Estonia (4.9%) and Greece (4.3%).
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Gustav Svensson
Aug 17th 2011, 22:34
maltese economy is a mess...
Christopher Pollard
Aug 17th 2011, 15:43
I don't understand how a "seasonal reduction" in prices can alter the inflation rate. Surely the fact that it is seasonal means that it happens every year and so shouldn't affect the rate. A larger or smaller than usual fluctuation would, on the other hand, have some knock on effect. Can the NSO elucidate please?
victor caruana
Aug 17th 2011, 15:39
Kieku jippruvaw imsieken tal-NSO biex inaqqsu l-indici halli z-zieda fl-gholi tal-hajja tkun baxxa. Nixtieq inkun naf minn huma xi iccassati fuq l-bord tal-indici li suppost iharsu l-konsumatur.
Mr mario gellel
Aug 17th 2011, 12:08
Crude oil went down sharply too, well below the 90$ per barrel but not for the consumers.
Is there any pn loly lovers who want to explain why we did not and have not been given any reduction to our BOMBA utilty electrical and petrol prices, please ????
DON'T BE DUMP, JUST REPLY.
charles tabone
Aug 17th 2011, 11:38
Messrs NSO researchers
You do mean to take us for a ride. Fruit and veg prices, as well as those of dairy products like cheeses etc, have definitely not gone down. Please just come over to the Cottonera area to do a shopping spree from street hawkers and small outlets like groceries, bars etc and you will find how untrue and misleading your assertyive research is.
Stefan Zammit
Aug 17th 2011, 11:49
These small shops take you for a ride - that is for certain. Anything bought from them or street hawkers is more expensive than the bigger supermarkets. Then again I agree, I can think of only a single product which I use regularly which went down in price.
Mr R ferriggi
Aug 17th 2011, 11:28
THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO BE ACTIVE ON THIS INDEX, AND NOT JUST SITTING ON THE FENCE AND SULKING WHEN THINGS GO WRONG.
WE HAVE VOTED THE MPs IN OFFICE TO DO THEIR JOB. ( I WILL NTO GO INTO THE HEFTY PAY PACKAGE THAT THE MPs HAVE PRESENTED THEMSELVES WITH).
AND NOT BLAME ALL PRICE INCREASES ON THE '' INTERNATIONAL PRICE OF THIS AND THAT''.
EVERYONE WITH A LITTLE SENSE KNOWS THAT THE LOCAL SITUATION IS OF MONOPOLIES. NOT TO MENTION THE MONOPOLY OF UTILITY SERVICES. OF WHIC HTHE GOVERNMENT IS PART AND PARCEL FOR ITS OWN INCOME INTERESTS.
THE PEOPLE EXPECT THAT THIS COMFORTABLE POSITION THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS IN,,,,,, ( OF BLAMING EVERYTHING ON EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE ELSE) HAS TO FINISH.
DO NOT TAKE US FOR FOOLS ANYMORE.