Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI for June 2016 increased by 2.26% year-on-year to 108.29, a further slowdown of 0.38 percentage points from the 2.64% growth in May. The increment was attributable to higher rentals for parking spaces, rising charges for eating out and dearer prices of tobacco. Among the various sections of goods and services, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Housing & Fuels that accounted for the largest shares of household expenditure showed continuous decline in growth, rising by 2.57% and 0.61% respectively year-on-year. Meanwhile, price index of Clothing & Footwear, Communication and Recreation & Culture decreased by 3.91%, 0.56% and 0.43% respectively. On the other hand, price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco, Education and Transport increased by 47.16%, 8.90% and 6.34% respectively. The CPI-A (108.39) and CPI-B (107.48) rose by 2.19% and 2.92% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI for June 2016 increased by 0.11% month-to-month. Higher prices of some cigarette brands and new arrival of summer clothing & footwear drove up the price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco and Clothing & Footwear by 2.88% and 1.71% respectively. On the contrary, receding prices of vegetables and fruits offset the rise in prices of fresh fish and charges for eating out, bringing down the price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages by 0.14% month-to-month. Meanwhile, price index of Housing & Fuels decreased by 0.14% due to the greater effect posed by the reduction in rentals for dwellings than the increase in property management fees. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.10% and 0.19% respectively month-to-month. For the 12 months ended June 2016, the average Composite CPI increased by 3.67% from the previous period, with marked increase in the price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+38.09%) and Education (+7.96%). The average CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 3.77% and 3.22% respectively over the previous period. The average Composite CPI for the second quarter of 2016 (108.16) increased by 2.64% year-on-year; the average CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 2.56% and 3.31% respectively. The average Composite CPI for the first half year of 2016 increased by 3.15% year-on-year; the average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 3.14% and 3.24% respectively. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general households in Macao. The CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP10,000 to MOP29,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP30,000 to MOP54,999.
