XN000022-1973-03-19 — Page 3

Monday, March 19, 1973

Poultry prices went up as supplies from China dropped by 19 per cent

and demand increased during the Festival period. There was also a drop of

33 per cent in the total supply of live pigs.

"Many restaurants also put up their menu prices, resulting in a rise

of seven per cent in the average price of meals bought away from home," he added.

Commenting on the increase in the index for alcoholic drink and

tobacco, the spokesman drew attention to the fact that prices of some brands

of locally made cigarettes had been revised upwards.

"The increase in the index for services", he explained, "was mainly

attributable to higher charges for cinema entertainment."

The G.C.P.I. for February also showed increases of one point each

for clothing and footwear and for miscellaneous goods, but movements in the

indexes for other commodity sections were insignificant.

For non-food items, increases were recorded in the prices of locally

manufactured wooden furniture, and crockery and earthenware of China origin.

The Modified Consumer Price Index for February was 156, eight points

higher than that for the previous month and 16 points above that for the

corresponding month in 1972.

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