The Ministry of Development Planning & Statistics (MDPS) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of September 2016. The CPI of September, 2016 reached to 108.8 showing an increase of 0.1% [M-o-M basis], when compared to CPI of August 2016. Compared to CPI of September 2015, [Y-o-Y basis] of 2.6% has been registered in the general index (CPI) of this month. 

     

An analysis [on M-o-M basis] of CPI for September, 2016 compared with August, 2016 CPI, shows that there are four main groups, where respective indices in this month have risen, namely: “Education” by 1.6%, “Recreation and Culture”  by 0.7%, “Restaurants and Hotels”  by 0.2%, “Health” by 0.1%. A decline in prices is also noticed in “Clothing and Footwear” by 0.9%, “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 0.3%, “Furniture and Household Equipment”, and “Transport” by 0.1% for each. The other groups: “Food and Beverages” ,“Tobacco”, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel”, and “Communication” have remained flat at the last month’s price level. Graph (2) and (3) show the movement of monthly CPIs of “Food and Beverages” and “Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas”.

              A comparison of the CPI, September, 2016 with the CPI, September, 2015 ( Annual Change), points a rise in the general index (CPI), by 2.6%. This [Y-o-Y] price surge is primarily due to the increasing prices seen in the seven groups, namely: “Recreation and Culture” by 10.3%, “Transport” by 5.1%”, “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 4.3%, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 2.9%, “Education” by 1.6%, “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 1.3%, and “Communication” by 0.1%. Also, there has been a decrease in price levels in other groups, namely: “Restaurants and Hotels” by 2.7%, “Food and Beverages” by 2.0%, “Health” by 0.9%, and “Clothing and Footwear” by 0.2%. For “Tobacco” group, there is no changes recorded. Table(1) and Graph (1) shows the monthly and annual comparison for CPI of September 2016.

The CPI of September, 2016 excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” group stands at 107.0, showing an increase by 0.2% when compared to the index of August 2016, and a 2.7% when compared to the CPI of September, 2015. Table (2) presents CPI excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” and Graph (4) shows the monthly percentage change of CPI with and without Housing component.

More detailed data on CPI is available on click here​