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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1984
SEPTEMBER CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES
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THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (A) ROSE BY 7.1 PER CENT AND THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (B) BY 7.5 PER CENT BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 1983 AND SEPTEMBER 1984, ACCORDING TO FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN NOTED THAT THESE RATES OF INCREASE REPRESENTED A SIGNIFICANT SLOWDOWN IN THE RATE OF INFLATION SINCE JANUARY THIS YEAR, WHEN THE CORRESPONDING RATES OF INCREASE WERE 12.4 PER CENT AND 12.0 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY. ALTHOUGH, HE CAUTIONED, TOO MUCH SHOULD NOT BE READ INTO ONE MONTH'S FIGURES. THIS SLOWING DOWN WAS WELL IN LINE WITH THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY'S BUDGET FORECAST FOR THE INFLATION RATE.
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THE CPI(A) AND CPI(B) FOR SEPTEMBER 1984 WERE 156.9 AND 156.3 RESPECTIVELY, OR 10.4 POINTS AND 10.8 POINTS HIGHER THAN IN SEPTEMBER 1983. COMPARED WITH AUGUST 1984, THE CPI(A) INCREASED BY 1.2 POINTS OR 0.8 PER CENT AND THE CPI(B) BY 0.9 POINT OR 0.6 PER CENT.
THE AVERAGE CPI(A) AND AVERAGE CPI(B) FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 1984, AT 153.4 AND 152.9 RESPECTIVELY, WERE 10.1 PER CENT AND 10.2 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY HIGHER THAN THE AVERAGES FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 1983. DURING THE THREE-MONTH PERIOD ENDED SEPTEMBER 1984, BOTH THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED CPI(A) AND CPI(B) INCREASED AT AN AVERAGE RATE OF 0.2 PER CENT EACH MONTH.
DURING SEPTEMBER, RETAIL PRICES OF FRESH VEGETABLES AND RENTALS FOR SOME PUBLIC HOUSING UNITS WERE HIGHER.
THE CPI(A) AND CPI(B) ARE BASED ON THE EXPENDITURE PATTERNS OF 50 PER CENT AND 30 PER CENT, RESPECTIVELY, OF URBAN HOUSEHOLDS IN HONG KONG, WHICH WERE DERIVED FROM THE 1979/80 HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE SURVEY. THE CPI(A) REFERRED TO HOUSEHOLDS SPENDING BETWEEN $1 000 AND $3 499 A MONTH, AND THE CPI(B) TO HOUSEHOLDS SPENDING BETWEEN $3 500 AND $6 499 A MONTH AT THAT TIME.
THE INDEXES FOR SEPTEMBER 1984 IN RESPECT OF THE NINE COMMODIT SERVICE SECTIONS IN THE TWO CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES ARE GIVEN BELOW, TOGETHER WITH THOSE FOR AUGUST 1984 AND SEPTEMBER 1983.
/(OCTOBER 1979