Hong Kong’s overall consumer prices rose by 4.3 percent in May 2012 over the same month a year earlier, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures released by the Census and Statistics Department.
According to the Composite CPI, the 4.3 percent increase in May was smaller than the corresponding increase (4.7 percent) in April 2012.
Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite CPI (i.e. the underlying inflation rate) in May 2012 was 5.1 percent, also smaller than that in April (5.6 percent), mainly due to the smaller increases in private housing rentals.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the average monthly rate of increase in the Composite CPI for the three-month period from March to May 2012 was 0.4 percent, and that for the three-month period from February to April 2012 was 0.3 percent. Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the average monthly rate of increase in the Composite CPI for the three-month period from March to May 2012 was 0.4 percent, and that for the three-month period from February to April 2012 was 0.3 percent.
A Government spokesman said that consumer price inflation receded further in May, thanks to the continued tapering of food inflation and the narrower increases in private housing rentals. The other major components in the Composite CPI also showed smaller year-on-year price increases in May, reflecting a broad-based easing in inflation pressures.
The spokesman commented further that, looking ahead, inflation is expected to come down further in the coming months, along with the relatively slow expansion of the local economy and a more moderate rise in import prices. The Government will continue to closely monitor the inflation situation, particularly its impact on the lower-income people.
(Source: Census and Statistics Department, HKSAR)