Consumer price index up slightly in July
Guyana Chronicle
August 25, 2004
THE cost of consumer items rose less than half a percentage point last month, as rising global oil prices and other demand-supply variables continued to take their toll on the Guyanese economy.
The Bureau of Statistics reports that the overall price level of consumer goods monitored in the Urban Consumer Price Index increased by 0.2 per cent in July over June.
In effect, the goods price index rose by 4.4 per cent in July over the same period last year, the bureau said.
But the inflation rate remained relatively stable, measuring 3.8 per cent between December 2003 and July 2004.
“The increase in prices of 0.2 per cent in the month of July was influenced primarily by an overall 0.2 per cent increase in prices in the food group,” the bureau noted in a statement.
Cereals, pulses, meat, fish, eggs, milk, oils and fats, condiments and spices, vegetables, and alcohol beverages cost between 0.2 per cent and 1.3 per cent more in July, compared to a 1.3 per cent drop in the cost of fruits and a 0.5 per cent decline in non-alcoholic beverage prices in the same period.
But some non-food items also cost more last month. Furniture prices recorded a 0.7 per cent increase, cleaning materials cost 1.7 per cent more, medical and personal care went up by 1.8 per cent, and doctor’s fees cost patients an additional 6.5 per cent, the bureau said.
“The miscellaneous group increased by 0.1 per cent, while there was an overall decrease of 0.1 per cent in educational, recreational and cultural services,” it added
The Urban Consumer Price Index monitors consumer and non-consumer prices primarily in Georgetown and is sometimes referred to as “the Georgetown index”, the bureau explained.