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Inflation in Solomon Islands up by 0.2%

A 0.2 per cent inflation hike was noted for Honiara town in July 2018, according to the recently updated Honiara Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month.
The July CPI is the first release that introduces the 3rd Series of the Honiara CPI that was updated using data from the 2012/2013 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) and setting a new index reference period of 2017 (2017=100). (See separate story).
Government Statistician, Douglas Kimi while releasing the monthly CPI said through the year, on the same month a year ago, the Honiara CPI has made an increase of 2.5 per cent.
However, he said Food and Non Alcoholic Beverages remained stable except for slight declines in bread and cereals -0.6 per cent, and fruits -1.3 per cent were offset by slight increases in meat +1.2 per cent and vegetables +1.6 per cent during the month.
Other major changes in other sub-index includes;
Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics +0.6 per cent
The main contributor to the rise in this group was narcotics +3.8 per cent driven mainly by betel nut.
Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels +0.9 per cent
The main contributor to the rise in this group was electricity charges +4.8 per cent driven by meter box bills +3.9 per cent and cash power bills 5.3 per cent. This was slightly offset by a slight fall in diesel (for electricity purpose) of -0.3 per cent.
Transport -0.3 per cent
The main contributor to the drop in the transport group was fuel -0.9 per cent.
The Government Statistician said apart from the above, price movements elsewhere in the consumption basket were negligible.
“The overall annual headline inflation rate for the month of July 2018 calculated on a 3 months moving average basis was 2.2 per cent, down by 0.2 percentage points from 2.4 per cent the previous month. The corresponding inflation rates for imported and other items were 0.5 per cent and 3.0 per cent, respectively.
“The main underlying rates of inflation based on a 3 months moving average for the month of July 2018 were observed between -0.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent while the headline inflation rate was at 2.2 per cent,” Mr. Kimi added.


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