Overall consumer prices fell 3.8% in August from a year earlier, smaller than the 4% decrease in July.

Relief measures, namely the rates concession and the waiver of water and sewage charges, are posing an appreciable downward effect on the Consumer Price Index. Lesser price declines were seen for some of the components within the CPI.

Analysed by sub-index and on a year-on-year comparison, the CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) fell by 3.5%, 3.9% and 4.1% respectively in August, also smaller than the corresponding decreases of 3.6%, 4.1% and 4.5% in July.

Meanwhile, the rates concession for the third quarter of 2003 continued to carry effect in August, and there was also a waiver of water and sewage charges for August-November.

Taken together, these two measures were estimated to have dampened the Composite CPI, CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) by 1.1 percentage points, 1.5 percentage points, 1.1 percentage points and 0.7 of a percentage point respectively in August over a year earlier.

Amongst the various CPI components, housing registered the largest year-on-year decline in prices in August (-8% in the Composite CPI and -6.7% in the CPI(A)).

This was followed by durable goods, miscellaneous services, clothing and footwear, food, meals bought away from home, transport, alcohol and tobacco.

On the other hand, year-on-year increases in prices were recorded in August for miscellaneous goods (1.4% in the Composite CPI and 0.5% in the CPI(A)), and electricity, gas and water (0.5% in the Composite CPI and 0.6% in the CPI(A)).

Taking the first eight months of 2003 together, the Composite CPI fell 2.6% from a year earlier.

The CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) were down by 2.2%, 2.8% and 2.8% respectively.