HK CPI rises 4.1 pct in January
HONG KONG, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's overall consumerprices rose 4.1 percent in January over the same month a yearearlier, smaller than the corresponding increase of 4.9 percent inDecember 2014, the Census and Statistics Department said onMonday.
Netting out the effects of all government's one-off reliefmeasures, the year-on-year growth of the Composite Consumer PriceIndex (CPI), the underlying inflation rate, was 2.3 percent inJanuary, also weaker than December's 3.1 percent rise.
The smaller growth in January was mainly attributed to thehigher prices in January last year around the Lunar New Year whichled to a higher base of comparison.
A government spokesman said the inflation remained on an easingtrend last month. Nevertheless, the visible moderation in the year-on-year rate of Composite CPI was also partly due to the differencein timing of the Lunar New Year, which fell in mid- February thisyear, but in late January last year.
He noted that, as to the outlook, inflationary pressures shouldbe contained in the near term, as the soft international commodityprices and lower global inflation should keep imported inflationtame, while local cost pressures will likely stay moderate.Enditem
