Consumer Price Index for March 2008

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI for March 2008 rose by 9.49% year-on-year to 122.53, with considerable increase in the price indices of Food & non-alcoholic beverages (+16.33%), Housing & fuels (+14.00%) and Health (+13.54%). Among the subgroups of Food & non-alcoholic beverages, notable increase was observed in the prices of fresh beef (+74.25%), canned meat (+54.46%), fresh pork (+54.09%), edible oil (+30.15%), chilled or frozen poultry (+27.07%), rice (+24.98%), noodles (+23.75%) and charges for meals bought away from home (+14.37%). For the subgroups of Housing & fuels and Health, significant increase was noted in prices of LP Gas (+32.81%), charges for maintenance and repair services of dwelling (+24.70%), rentals for housing (+14.70%) and charges for medical consultation service (+24.93%). However, the price indices of Communication and Education registered year-on-year decrease of 6.86% and 5.84% respectively. The CPI-A and CPI-B for March 2008 were 124.70 and 122.00, up by 9.99% and 9.38% respectively year-on-year. For the 12 months ended March 2008, the average Composite CPI rose by 6.71% over the preceding period. The Composite CPI for March 2008 dropped slightly by 0.08% month-to-month, with lower charges for outbound package tours and hairdressing services, as well as lower prices of fresh flower and fresh food after the Lunar New Year, pushing down the price indices of Recreation & culture (-2.69%), Miscellaneous goods and services (-1.34%) and Food & non-alcoholic beverages (-0.34%). On the other hand, the indices of Communication and Clothing & footwear rose by 1.89% and 1.69% respectively due to lower discount offered for IDD calls, as well as new arrivals of men and women’s clothings. In addition, the CPI-A and CPI-B for March 2008 decreased by 0.14% and 0.05% respectively month-to-month. The Composite CPI for the first quarter of 2008 increased by 9.09% to 121.59 over the same quarter of 2007, with marked increase in the price indices of Food & non-alcoholic beverages (+16.08%), Housing & fuels (+14.32%) and Health (+13.05%). 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. The CPI-B relates to about 31% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 10,000 to MOP 19,999.