CCPI dips as some commodity prices decrease

COLOMBO: The Consumer Price Index of Colombo City (CCPI) for April has registered a 4.2 index point decrease over March, a release from the Prices of Wages Division of the Department of Census and Statistics states.

The CCPI for all items for April was posted at 5025.4 index points. A decrease of 4.2 index point change or 0.1 percentage was noted from March 2007 posted at 5029.6 index points. This is a decrease of Rs. 8.42 in the expenditure value of 'Market Basket' - when compared to March 2007, the release explained.

The price in food exhibited the highest negative index point change of 27.90. Index for fuel and light, clothing and miscellaneous also recorded the positive index point changes of 3.90, 0.60 and 19.20.

The decrease in the CCPI for April 2007 is mainly due to decrease in prices of rice, sugar, dried chillies, cowpea whole, fresh fish - paraw, mullet and salaya, dried fish - sprats and most varieties of vegetables.

The release added that these price decreases can be mainly attributed to higher supply of locally produced agricultural consumer goods, specially vegetables to the main markets in Colombo city due to seasonality.

However, prices of milk, tea, limes, red onions, sour plantains, coconut oil, jam (MD), beef, fresh fish - balaya, parati and small mullet, dried fish - katta and koduwa, coconuts, eggs, potatoes and kerosene oil have increased during this month.

Inflation rate for April was registered 17.4 higher by 8.2 percentage point compared to its same period last year's April level of 9.2 per cent.

The month-on-month inflation rate of the Colombo city was the 0.6 percentage point higher than of last month's rate of 16.8.

The table explains the composition of the decrease of 0.1 per cent. It should be noted that in this basket, certain items play a more significant part than the others, depending on the weight of the household consumption.

Of the total decrease of 0.1 per cent, food items account for a decrease of 0.55 per cent mainly due to decrease in the prices of rice (0.24 per cent) and vegetables (0.75 per cent). There is an increase of 0.08 per cent, 0.01 per cent and 0.38 per cent on account of fuel and light, clothing and miscellaneous items.

Decrease in percentage contribution to CCPI from
March 2007 to April 2007

 Sub Group/		Percentage	Percentage
Commodity		increase	decrease

Food					0.55
 Rice					0.24
 Sugar					0.05
 Dried chillies				0.10
 Cowpea whole				0.02
 Fresh fish				0.02
Vegetables				0.75
 Red onions		0.07
 Sour plantains		0.05
 Coconut oil		0.13
 Dried fish		0.03
 Coconuts		0.14
 Potatoes		0.05
 Others			0.16

Fuel and Light		0.08
 Kerosene oil		0.08

Clothing		0.01
Miscellaneous		0.38
 Betel and arecanuts	0.25
 Others	0.13

Total					-0.1%