Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI for February 2008 rose by 9.47% over February 2007 to 122.64, with significant increase in the price indices of Food & non-alcoholic beverages (+17.44%), Housing & fuels (+14.70%) and Health (+13.07%). As a consequence of the Lunar New Year and the bad weather in the Mainland, food prices surged markedly, among the subgroups, notable increase was observed in the prices of fresh pork (+59.17%), vegetable (+41.45%), edible oil (+30.49%), chilled or frozen poultry (+28.39%), salt-water fish (+22.43%) and charges for the meals bought away from home (+13.06%). For the subgroups of Housing & fuels and Health, significant price increase was noted in LP Gas (+32.81%), charges of maintenance and repair services of dwelling (+26.21%), rental for housing (+15.60%) and medical consultation service (+24.42%) However, the price indices of Communication and Education registered year-on-year decrease of 8.60% and 5.84% respectively. The CPI-A and CPI-B for February 2008 rose by 10.40% and 9.30% year-on-year. The Composite CPI for January to February went up by 8.89% over the same period of 2007; for the 12 months ended February 2008, the average Composite CPI rose by 6.33% over the preceding period. On account of the Lunar New Year, the Composite CPI increased by 2.53% over January 2008, with rising charges of outbound package tours and hairdressing services, dearer prices of fresh flower. Besides, prices of fresh food soared significantly as a result of the snowstorm in the Mainland, along with higher rental of housing and rising prices of LP gas, marked increase was recorded in the price indices of Recreation & culture (+6.03%), Food & non-alcoholic beverages (+4.73%), Miscellaneous goods and services (+3.15%) and Housing & fuels (+1.99%). On the other hand, the indices of Clothing & footwear; and Communication dropped by 2.02% and 0.04% respectively due to the discount sale of men and women’s clothing and footwear, as well as price reduction of mobil phones. In addition, the CPI-A and CPI-B for February 2008 increased by 2.85% and 2.45% respectively month-to-month. 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.
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