Hong Kong's Consumer Price Index Down In MarchHong Kong's consumer prices in overall terms registered a year-on-year rate of decrease of 5.0 percent in March, slightly smaller than in February, according to the Census and Statistics Department.The decreases were largely attributable to a narrowing of decline in the prices of clothing and footwear and, to a lesser extent, also in private housing rentals and the prices of certain durable goods. In the first quarter of 2000, the price index also declined by 5.1 percent as compared to the same period in 1999. A Government Secretariat spokesman noted that consumer prices continued on a downtrend in March 2000. The decline was fairly broad-based across many major commodity groups due to the prevalence of substantial price discounts at various retail outlets, he said. Yet the decline in consumer prices in overall terms seemed to have stabilized in the most recent period, along with a firming up in import prices of certain consumer goods, the spokesman added. |
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