MaltaMedia.com

Posted on August 17th, 2011

In July the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices went down to 116.84 from 117.14 in June, a decrease of 0.3 per cent.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) said that this primarily reflected a drop of 12.1 per cent in the Clothing and Footwear Index on account of seasonal reductions in the prices of garments. The Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages Index went down by 1.2 per cent as a result of lower fruit prices.

Furthermore cheaper materials for the maintenance and repair of dwellings caused the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels Index to go down by 0.2 per cent. The Furniture, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House Index edged down by 0.1 per cent, mainly due to a reduction in the price of household textiles and non-durable goods.

A similar downward shift was recorded in the Health Index, mostly due to lower prices of pharmaceutical products, and in the Communication Index due to lower-priced mobile phones.

NSO added that the Transport Index went up by 1.9 per cent, mainly on account of costlier air fares. Seasonally higher prices for accommodation services caused the Restaurants and Hotels Index to go up by 1.6 per cent. Higher-priced package holidays were the main reason behind an increase of 1.1 per cent in the Recreation and Culture Index. The Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco Index went up by 0.4 per cent, mainly due to a small increase in the price of wine.

In July, the twelve-month moving average rate of inflation stood at 2.8 per cent, whereas the annual rate of inflation stood at 2.2 per cent NSO concluded.