THE
Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December 2011 increased by 1.8 per cent compared
to the same period in 2010, according to the latest report by the Department of
Economic Planning and Development (JPKE).
The report, issued by the agency yesterday,
indicated a 0.2 per cent increase on a month-on-month basis for December 2011
over November 2011 as a result of increases in the indices for clothing and
footwear (2.1 per cent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.5 per cent) and
transport (0.5 per cent).
But drops were recorded in furnishings,
household equipment and routine household maintenance (0.9 per cent) and
miscellaneous goods and services (0.5 per cent), while the indices for tobacco,
housing, water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, Health, Communication,
Education and Restaurants and Hotels remained unchanged.
JPKE reported an increase of 10.0 per cent in
the price of clothing material and 7.3 per cent in shoes and other footwear,
which were mainly contributed to the increase in the clothing and footwear
index.
The index for food and non-alcoholic beverages
also indicated an increase due to higher costs of meat including chicken by 1.6
per cent, Vegetables by 1.1 per cent and Fish and Seafood by 0.8 per cent. The
increase in the Transport index was caused by a 4.3 per cent increase in the
price of transport services by air, the JPKE report stated.
The reported added that the index of
furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance fell as a
result of decreased prices of furniture and furnishings; carpets; household
textiles; household appliances and utensils; tools and equipment for house; and
other non-durable household goods.
Meanwhile, the index of miscellaneous goods
and services indicated a decrease due to lower prices of jewellery, and travel
goods and bags.
JPKE said the average annual CPI in 2011 was
106.9 compared to 104.8 in 2010, which resulted in an inflation rate of 2.0 per
cent over the period of twelve months (January to December) in 2011.
According to the report, this was mainly due
to an increase in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index of 3.5 per cent
contributed from the increased prices of milk by 12.0 per cent and selected
cooking oils by 10.9 per cent throughout the year.
The tobacco index also increased by 93.4 per
cent due to the increase in the prices of cigarettes following amendments to
the excise duties for cigarettes, tobacco and tobacco products through the
Customs Import Duties (Amendment) Order 2010 and Excise Duties (Amendment)
Order 2010 effective from November 8, 2010.
Furthermore, JPKE added, an increase of 18.6
per cent in the cost of jewellery and 12.3 per cent in the cost of insurance
resulted to the increase of miscellaneous goods and services index.
CPI is a measure of price changes of goods and
services paid by the consumer in a specified period.
AL-HAADI ABU BAKAR
The Brunei Times
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