Cosumer price index rises by 0.8 per cent

The National Business

BASED on the December quarter 2018 consumer price index, the headline CPI (inflation) increased by 0.8 per cent from the 2018 September quarter to 2018 December quarter.
CPI measures change in the price of goods and services that represent the spending pattern of urban dwellers in Papua New Guinea.
The headline CPI also shows annual change of 4.3 per cent from December quarter 2017 to December quarter 2018.
The quarterly percentage change in the CPI towns are Port Moresby 1.1, Lae 0.9, Goroka-Hagen-Madang 0.7 and Alotau-Kimbe-Rabaul 0.7.
The quarterly changes in the CPI by major expenditure groups for December quarter 2018 are:

  • food and non-alcohol beverages 1.2 per cent;
  • alcohol beverages, tobacco and betel nut 1.9 per cent;
  • clothing and footwear 1.1 per cent;
  • housing 0.4 per cent;
  • household equipment 0.5 per cent;
  • transport -0.4 per cent;
  • communication 0.0 per cent;
  • health 0.6 per cent;
  • recreation 1.0 per cent;
  • education 0.0 per cent;
  • restaurants and hotels 1.0 per cent; and,
  • miscellaneous 1.8 per cent

The 0.8 per cent increase was partly offset by a fall in the transport group by -0.4 per cent.