Statistics Mauritius said on Friday that the inflation rate for the twelve months ending May 2014 works out to 4%, holding steady from the annual average inflation rate in April 2014.
However, it compares unfavorably to the annual average inflation rate of 3.6% for the twelve months ending May 2013.
In a month-on-month comparison, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May 2014 has shown a slight decrease of 0.97 points compared to 107.7 for April 2014.
The main contributor to this change in index between April and May 2014 is a decline in the prices of vegetables, which fell by -1.0 index points.
Comparing sub-indices for the twelve divisions of consumption expenditure for the month of May 2014 to April 2014, the following reinforced the downward trend: food and non alcoholic beverages decreased by 3.2 index points to reach 107.4 points; transport and communication both dipped by 0.1 to attain 105.8 and 99.8 respectively; and finally, miscellaneous goods and services decreased by 0.1 to attain 104.9.
On the uptrend, alcoholic beverages and tobacco increased by 0.1 index points to attain 116.4 points; clothing and footwear increased by 0.6 index points to hit 110.3; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels were set at 101.4 points after increasing by 0.1; and finally, restaurant and hotels increased by 0.2 to reach 111.2 points.
Also, data released by the statistics office showed that Mauritius’ year-on-year inflation rate fell to 3.4% in the year to May 2014 from 4.2% in the year to April 2014.
The year-on-year inflation rate is measured by the change in the CPI for May 2014 relative to May 2013.
It may be noted that the year-on-year inflation rate is the one that is used by policymakers on the island economy, as represented by the central bank, Bank of Mauritius, to decide critical monetary policy parameters such as changes in the key repo rate.
Image (AfDB): Also, data released by the statistics office showed that Mauritius’ year-on-year inflation rate fell to 3.4% in the year to May 2014 from 4.2% in the year to April 2014.
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