Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI for April 2008 rose by 8.72% year-on-year to 122.39, with considerable surge in the price indices of Food & non-alcoholic beverages (+18.60%), Health (+13.90%) and Transport (+10.99%). Among the subgroups of Food & non-alcoholic beverages, notable increase was observed in the prices of canned meat (+80.07%), fresh beef (+68.97%), rice (+62.80%), edible oil (+62.48%), fresh pork (+59.49%), chilled or frozen pork (+47.13%), fresh water fish (+27.95%), chilled or frozen poultry (+26.22%), noodles (+24.89%), vegetables (+21.92%) and charges for meals bought away from home (+14.55%). For the subgroups of Health and Transport, charges for medical consultation service (+25.68%) and price of unleaded gasoline (+25.96%) registered marked increase.

Although the prices of LP Gas (+32.79%) and charges for maintenance & repair services of dwelling (+28.43%) rose significantly over April 2007, yet the Government’s payout of the electricity subsidy (MOP 150/month) to all households tapering off the increment of the index of Housing & fuels to 7.47%.

However, the price indices of Communication and Education registered year-on-year decrease of 6.91% and 5.84% respectively.

The CPI-A and CPI-B for April 2008 were 124.16 and 121.82, up by 8.96% and 8.54% respectively year-on-year. For the 12 months ended April 2008, the average Composite CPI rose by 7.05% over the preceding period.

The Composite CPI for April 2008 dropped by 0.12% month-to-month, on account of the electricity subsidy that pushed the index of Housing and fuels down by 4.67%; besides, the indices of Recreation & culture and Communication also went down by 0.12% and 0.05% respectively.

On the other hand, the indices of Clothing & footwear, Food & non-alcoholic beverages and Transport rose by 6.04%, 2.34% and 1.49% respectively, due to the new arrivals of Summer clothing, as well as dearer prices of canned meat, rice, edible oil and gasoline.

The CPI-A and CPI-B for April 2008 decreased by 0.43% and 0.15% respectively month-to-month.

The Composite CPI reflects the impacts of price changes on the general population. The CPI-A relates to about 49% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 3,000 to MOP 9,999. The CPI-B relates to about 31% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 10,000 to MOP 19,999.