Minor blip: February saw a slower year-on-year consumer price increase due to falls in prices after the Lunar New Year Festival.

February saw a slower year-on-year consumer price increase, with overall prices up 1.6% over a year earlier, smaller than January's 2.6% growth, the Census & Statistics Department says.

The smaller rise was mainly attributable to falls in charges for package tours and the price of basic foodstuffs, as well as smaller rises in the cost of meals bought away from home and inbound and outbound transport fares after the Lunar New Year Festival, which was in January this year but in February last year.

Taking the first two months of 2006 together to remove the distortion caused by the difference in the timing of the Lunar New Year, the composite consumer price index rose 2.1% over a year earlier.

The department said the continuous solid expansion of the economy should see some further upward pressures on consumer prices. Yet with the continued expansion in production capacity brought about by rising productivity, such upward pressures would be mitigated to some extent.

Rises recorded

In February, year-on-year price increases were recorded for miscellaneous goods (7.1%), electricity, gas and water (4.2%), housing (3.9%), transport (1.6%) and meals bought away from home (0.7%).

Year-on-year drops were recorded for durable goods (-1.6%), clothing and footwear (-1.2%), alcohol and tobacco (-1.0%), miscellaneous services (-0.9%) and food (excluding meals bought away from home) (-0.2%).

For the quarter ending February, the average monthly rates of change in the seasonally adjusted composite consumer price index was 0.2%, same as that for the quarter ending January.