FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1991
1
CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES FOR MARCH PUBLISHED
THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY (FRIDAY) PUBLISHED THE NEW SERIES OF 1989/90-BASED CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES (OCT. 89/SEP. 90 = 100) AS WELL AS THE 1984/85-BASED SERIES (OCT. 84/SEP. 85 = 100) FOR MARCH 1991.
THE 1989/90-BASED CPI(A) AND CPI(B) HAVE BEEN COMPILED SINCE OCTOBER 1990 AND WILL BE RELEASED IN PARALLEL WITH THE 1984/85-BASED CPI(A) AND CPI(B) AS FROM THIS MONTH. THE LATTER SERIES WILL BE DISCONTINUED AFTER MARCH 1992.
THE 1989/90-BASED CPI(A) AND CPI(B) FOR MARCH 1991 WERE 111.9 AND 111.1 RESPECTIVELY. COMPARED WITH FEBRUARY 1991, CPI(A) INCREASED BY 1.4% AND CPI(B) BY 0.9%, LARGELY BECAUSE OF HIGHER PRICES OF CIGARETTES, HIGHER CHARGES FOR MEALS IN RESTAURANTS AND OTHER BATING PLACES, HIGHER PRICES OF FRESH FRUITS AND HIGHER RENTS FOR SOME PRIVATE HOUSING UNITS.
SERIES
AS COMPILATION OF THE 1989/90-BASED CPI(A) AND CPI (B) ONLY BEGAN FROM OCTOBER 1990, REFERENCE HAS TO BE MADE TO THE 1984/85- BASED CPI'S FOR YEAR-ON-YEAR COMPARISON OF PRICE MOVEMENTS.
THAN
THE 1984/85-BASED CPI(A) AND CPI(B) FOR MARCH 1991, AT 155.8 AND 153.9 RESPECTIVELY, WERE 12.9% AND 12.3% RESPECTIVELY HIGHER IN MARCH 1990. THE CORRESPONDING RATES OF INCREASE IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 1991 WERE 10.8% AND 11.9% RESPECTIVELY FOR BOTH CPI(A) AND CPI (B).
THE FASTER RATES OF INCREASE RECORDED IN MARCH WERE MAINLY DUE TO THE INCREASE IN THE PRICES OF TOBACCO. EXCLUDING THE HIGHER TOBACCO DUTY WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR SLIGHTLY MORE THAN ONE PERCENTAGE POINT ON THE CPI(A) AND NEARLY ONE PERCENTAGE POINT ON THE CPI(B), AND THE CONCURRENT INCREASE IN TOBACCO PRICE OVER AND ABOVE THIS HIGHER DUTY,
BOTH CPI(A) AND CP1 (B) WERE 11.2% HIGHER IN MARCH 1991 THAN IN 1990.
THE AVERAGE CPI(A) AND AVERAGE CPI(B) OF THE 1984/85-BASED SERIES FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDED MARCH 1991, AT 146.1 AND 145.5 RESPECTIVELY, WERE BOTH 10.4% HIGHER THAN THE AVERAGE FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDED MARCH 1990.
FOR
THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1991, THE AVERAGE CPI(A) AND AVERAGE CPI (B) OF THE 1984/85-BASED SERIES INCREASED BY 11.9% AND 11.6% RESPECTIVELY OVER THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR.
ON A YEAR-ON-YEAR COMPARISON, FASTER RATES OF INCREASE IN THE 1984/85-BASED CPI(A) IN MARCH 1991 WERE RECORDED IN THE INDEXES FOR ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND TOBACCO FOR HOME CONSUMPTION (69.8%), SERVICES
(14.2%), TRANSPORT AND VEHICLES (13.6%) AND HOUSING (13.2%).
THE CORRESPONDING RATES OF INCREASE FOR THE SAME COMPONENTS THE 1984/85-BASED CPI (B) WERE 65.2%, 13.0%, 14.4% AND
RESPECTIVELY.
IN 12.3%
/THE INDEX