Slight inflation bodes well for the Kingdom

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 19 August 2010 15:01 Nguon Sovan

PRICE inflation in Camboida increased 1.6 percent July compared to July last year, and 0.5 percent over June – a good sign for the Kingdom, according to country economist Chan Sophal.

Consumer Price Index figures obtained yesterday show rising costs for oil and gas led the rise in prices for the basket of goods tracked by the index – a weighted average of 259 common products ranging from biscuits to bicycles.

Fuel products were highlighted as the primary driver of the annualised 1.6 percent inflation in the figures compiled by the Ministry of Planning’s National Institute of Statistics.

Natural gas and petrol prices in the Kingdom increased by 32.2 percent and 17.7 percent respectively, the highest growth among the CPI items.

Cambodia Economic Association President Chan Sophal said inflation levels were still relatively small overall and were a positive sign for the nation’s economy.

“We haven’t closely kept track on prices of goods and commodities on the marketplace, but we have not seen any noticeable rises of the prices of goods last month,” he said.

Other categories seeing slight annualised increases included food and beverage, tobacco, clothing, footwear, water, electricity, healthcare, and transport. The largest drops were in telephone equipment, cars and grains excluding rice and cereal.

The CPI samples the prices of 259 goods from four outlets at five Phnom Penh markets.

Meanwhile, the riel, the predominant currency used in the tracking, has depreciated 2 percent against United States dollar since April.