Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI for February 2007 rose by 1.44% over January to 112.03. The indices of Recreation & culture; Food & non-alcoholic beverages; Housing & fuels; and Miscellaneous goods & services recorded notable increase of 6.74%, 2.04%, 1.60% and 1.41% respectively, on account of the effects of the Chinese New Year. The increments were attributable to higher charges for hairdressing services, outbound package tours and meals bought away from home, as well as the general price increase of the food items, which was accompanied with higher rentals for housing and rising charges for the maintenance and repair services of dwelling. In addition, dearer prices of air tickets drove the index of Transport up by 0.71%. However, the price index of Clothing & footwear was the only section that recorded decrease, down by 2.07%, as a result of seasonal sale of Winter clothing and footwear. As the Chinese New Year took place in February this year but in January last year, the Composite CPI for February 2007 registered a larger year-on-year increase of 4.94%. Observing the changes in the average indices for the first two months can lessen the anomalous impact to the consumer prices caused by the different timing of the Chinese New Year. The average Composite CPI for the first two months of 2007 went up by 4.38% compared with the same period of 2006. For the 12 months ended February 2007, the average Composite CPI rose by 4.94% over the previous period. In addition, the CPI-A and CPI-B for February 2007 were 113.11 and 111.68, up by 1.36% and 1.40% respectively compared with January. The Composite CPI reflects the impacts of price changes on the general population. The CPI-A relates to about 49% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 3,000 to MOP 9,999, whereas the CPI-B relates to about 31% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 10,000 to MOP 19,999.
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