THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1984
5
CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES FOR OCTOBER 1984
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THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (A) ROSE BY 3.4 PER CENT AND THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (B) BY 4.4 PER CENT BETWEEN OCTOBER 1983 AND OCTOBER 1984 ACCORDING TO FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN SAID, +THESE RATHER LOW RATES OF INCREASE LARGELY REFLECT THE SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN CONSUMER PRICES IN OCTOBER LAST YEAR CONSEQUENT UPON THE SHARP DEPRECIATION OF THE HONG KONG DOLLAR IN SEPTEMBER 1983.+
THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (A) AND CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (B) FOR OCTOBER 1984 WERE 156.0 AND 156.2 RESPECTIVELY. COMPARED WITH THE PRECEDING MONTH, CPI(A) DECREASED BY 0.9 POINT OR 0.6 PER CENT AND CPI(B), BY 0.1 POINT OR 0.1 PER CENT.
THE AVERAGE CPI(A) AND AVERAGE CPI(B) FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDED OCTOBER 1984, AT 153.8 AND 153.4 RESPECTIVELY, WERE 9.3 PER CENT AND 9.5 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY HIGHER THAN THE AVERAGES FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDED OCTOBER 1983. DURING THE THREE-MONTH PERIOD ENDED OCTOBER 1984, THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED CPI(A) WAS VIRTUALLY STATIONARY WHILE THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED CPI(B) INCREASED AT AN AVERAGE RATE OF 0.1 PER CENT EACH MONTH.
DURING OCTOBER, FOOD PRICES, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF FRESH VEGETABLES, WERE LOWER. ON THE OTHER HAND, SCHOOL FEES, TEXTBOOK PRICES AND PRIVATE DWELLING RENTALS WENT UP.
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 OCTOBER 1984 IN RESPECT OF THE NINE COMMODITY/ SERVICE SECTIONS IN THE TWO CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES ARE GIVEN BELOW, TOGETHER WITH THOSE FOR SEPTEMBER 1984 AND OCTOBER 1983.
(OCTOBER 1979 TO SEPTEMBER 1980 AVERAGE 100)
*
CPI(A)
CPI(B)
SECTION
OCT. 83 SEP. 84 OCT. 84
OCT. 83 SEP. 84 OCT. 84
FOODSTUFFS
154.9
158.6
154.6
154.6
158.8
155.3
HOUSING
139.6
147.6
149.4
139.5
147.6
149.6
FUEL AND LIGHT
153.9
147.0
146.9
153.8
146.9
146.8
/ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
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