CHAPTER 6: PRICES
Inflation
demand was not particularly strong, as property continued to decrease and as growth in the money supply, domestic
ease in the first quarter. Consumer
The various
6.1
As consumer
prices and rentals of
there was no dramatic
inflation continued to
price inflation was clearly slowing down.
Consumer Price Indexes averaged about 13% higher in the first
quarter than in the corresponding quarter of
significant improvement on the rates of increase recorded
during 1981 which averaged over 15%.
Import prices
6.2
1981, a
Import prices, as
as measured by the unit value index
of imports, increased by 13% during 1981. Trends during the
year suggest that movements in exchange rates exerted a
substantial influence, although with a time lag. With the
gradual strengthening of the import-weighted exchange rate index during the fourth quarter of 1981 and during the first
quarter of this year, import prices have remained fairly
stable. Although the unit value index of imports in February
this year was 12% higher than in February 1981, the increase
during the period October 1981 to February 1982 was only 2%.
6.3
Among the various end-use categories of imports, the
increase in prices during 1981 was most rapid in respect of food, which goes a long way towards explaining the rapid rate
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