FRIDAY, MAY 24, 1991
CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES FOR APRIL PUBLISHED
THE
1989/90-BASED CPI(A) AND CPI(B) FOR APRIL 1991 WERE 113.9 AND 113.0 RESPECTIVELY.
CPI(B)
COMPARED WITH MARCH 1991, CPI(A) INCREASED BY 1.8% AND BY 1.7%, LARGELY BECAUSE OF HIGHER RENTS FOR SOME PRIVATE AND PUBLIC HOUSING UNITS, HIGHER FARES FOR BUS SERVICE, HIGHER PRICES OF CIGARETTES, HIGHER CHARGES FOR MEALS IN RESTAURANTS AND OTHER EATING PLACES AND HIGHER PRICES OF OUTERCLOTHING AND FRESH VEGETABLES.
USING THE 1984/85-BASED CPI FOR YEAR-ON-YEAR COMPARISON, THE 1984/86-BASED CPI (A) AND CPI(B) FOR APRIL 1991, AT 158.7 AND 156.9 RESPECTIVELY WERE 13.9% AND 13.0% RESPECTIVELY HIGHER THAN IN
APRIL
1990.
AND
FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING APRIL 1991, THE AVERAGE CPI(A) AVERAGE CPI (B) OF THE 1984/85-BASED SERIES INCREASED BY 12.9% AND 12.4% RESPECTIVELY COMPARED WITH THE THREE MONTHS ENDING APRIL 1990.
FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDING APRIL 1991, THE CORRESPONDING INCREASES WERE 10.8% AND 10.7% HIGHER COMPARED WITH THE 12 MONTHS ENDING APRIL 1990.
THE FASTER RATES OF INCREASE RECORDED IN APRIL WERE MAINLY DUE то THE EFFECT OF THE RECENT INCREASE IN THE PRICES OF CIGARETTES AS WELL AS THE CUMULATIVE IMPACT OF HIGHER CHARGES FOR MEALS IN RESTAURANTS
OTHER EATING PLACES AND HIGHER RENTS FOR HOUSING.
EXCLUDING THE EFFECT OF THE PRICE INCREASE IN CIGARETTES, THE CPI (A) AND CPI(B) FOR APRIL 1991 WERE BOTH 11.7% HIGHER THAN IN APRIL 1990.
THE REDUCTION OF THE RATE OF INCREASE FOR TOBACCO DUTY FROM 200% TO 100% HAS TAKEN EFFECT FROM MAY 18, 1991 AND IS EXPECTED ΤΟ HAVE A MODERATING INFLUENCE ON THE CPI IN JUNE 1991.
ON A YEAR-ON-YEAR COMPARISON, FASTER RATES OF INCREASE IN THE 1984/85-BASED CPI(A) IN APRIL 1991 WERE RECORDED IN THE INDEXES FOR ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND TOBACCO FOR HOME CONSUMPTION (81.4%), TRANSPORT AND VEHICLES (16.3%), HOUSING (14.3%) AND SERVICES (14.0%).
THE CORRESPONDING RATES OF INCREASE FOR THE SAME COMPONENTS IN THE 1984/85-BASED CPI(B) WERE 75.7%, 16.3%, 13.6% AND 12.8%
RESPECTIVELY.
THE INDEX FOR FOODSTUFFS, WHICH HAS THE LARGEST WEIGHTING IN THE INDEX, INCREASED BY 11.9% IN CPI(A) AND BY 12.3% IN CPI(B).
THESE FIVE COMPONENTS TOGETHER ACCOUNTED FOR 90% OF THE OVERALL INCREASE IN THE CPI(A) AND 89% OF THE INCREASE IN THE CPI(B).
/DURING THE
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