The annual rate of inflation as measured by the Harmonised
Index of Consumer Prices in May stood at 0.4 per cent, the NSO said today. A year ago it was 0.8 per cent.
The largest upward impacts on annual inflation were brought about by the Restaurants and Hotels Index (0.5 percentage points), the Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco Index (0.2 percentage points) and the Furniture, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House Index (0.2 percentage points). This was mainly due to costlier restaurant services, cigarettes and furniture items respectively.
The main downward impacts were recorded in the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels Index (-0.7 percentage points), the Transport Index (-0.3 percentage points) and the Communication Index (-0.1 percentage points).
This was mainly due to lower electricity rates, airfares and prices of mobile phones, the NSO said.
The 12-month moving average rate was 0.8 per cent