Inflation stable in September

Wednesday, 1 October 2014 01:55 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Central Bank said yesterday inflation, as measured by the change in the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI) (2006/07=100), which is computed by the Department of Census and Statistics, decreased to 4.2% in September 2014 from 4.5% recorded in August on an annual average basis. Year-on-year (YoY) inflation remained unchanged at 3.5% in September 2014, as recorded in the previous month. The monthly change in CCPI recorded a decline of 0.2% in September, mainly due to the decline of prices in the food and non-alcoholic beverages category.

Within the food category, average prices of many varieties of vegetables, dried fish, eggs, green chillies, potatoes, red onions, big onions and some varieties of fresh fish decreased compared to the previous month due to seasonal factors. Meanwhile, average prices of almost all varieties of rice and some varieties of fruits increased. Within the non-food category, prices of items in the sub groups of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and transport decreased due to the downward revision of fuel prices from 17 September 2014. Prices in the clothing and footwear, health, education, communication, and recreation and culture sub groups remained unchanged. Meanwhile, prices in all other sub groups, namely furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance and miscellaneous goods and services increased during the month. Core inflation, which indicates the underlying inflation in the economy, decreased to 3.7% in September 2014, from 3.9% in August 2014 on a YoY basis. Meanwhile, annual average core inflation remained unchanged at 3.2%, as recorded in the previous month.