MACAO, Aug. 21 -- Macao's inflation rate as measured by Composite CPI (consumer price index) rose by 9.22 percent year-on-year in July 2008, according to the figures Thursday released by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

    DSEC information indicated that the Composite CPI for July reached 125.77, of which the price indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, health and transport soared by 19.97 percent,14.56 percent and 12.7 percent respectively.

    Despite the substantial increase of price indices of LP gas (up26.47 percent), charges for maintenance and repair services of dwelling (up 20.65 percent) and rentals for housing (up 14.36 percent), the electricity subsidy provided by the Special Administrative Region (SAR) government slowed down the year-on-year increment of the index of housing and fuels to 6.72 percent, said the DSEC.

    The Composite CPI reflects the impacts of price changes on the general population. The CPI-A relates to about 49 percent of local households, which have an average monthly expenditure of 3,000 patacas (375 U.S. dollars) to 9,999 patacas (1250 dollars). The CPI-B relates to about 31 percent of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of 10,000 patacas (1,250 dollars) to 19,999 patacas (2,500 dollars).

    The CPI-A and CPI-B for July this year were 127.91 and 125.13, up by 9.57 percent and 9.10% respectively year-on-year, according to the DSEC.

    In addition, the average Composite CPI for January to July this year went up by 9.03 percent over the same period of 2007, while for the 12 months ended July 2008, the Composite CPI rose by 7.99 percent over the preceding period. 

    (Source: Xinhua)