‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Division main inflation driver
Jamaica’s inflation continues to surge with the latest out-turn for September rising by 1.4 per cent.
The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), which measures Jamaica’s inflation, says this upward movement was largely the result of a 4.1 per cent rise in the index for the ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ division. The rise in the division’s index was due mainly to a 9.2 per cent increase in the group ‘Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’.
According to STATIN, “this was as a result of the cessation of the Government of Jamaica’s (GoJ) 20.0 per cent subsidy on electricity bills for customers, who use 200 kilowatts per hour or less”.
Higher tuition at primary schools
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the country’s inflation was also impacted by a 1.1 per cent increase in the index for the ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ division.
This was primarily attributable to higher prices of items within the class, ‘Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses’. The index for this class increased by 3.5 per cent.
Additionally, there was a 5.3 per cent increase in the index for the ‘Education’ division resulting from higher tuition fees charged by private primary-level institutions. For September 2022, the overall rate of inflation was moderated by the decline in the index for the ‘Transport’ division of 0.3 per cent.
This was as a result of a decline in petrol prices for the period. The point-to-point inflation rate (September 2021 – September 2022) was 9.3 per cent.
This was influenced mainly by the point-to-point inflation rate for the divisions: ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ (10.5%), ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ (8.5%) and ‘Restaurants and Accommodations Services’ (19.4%).
For the fiscal year-to-date, the inflation rate was 4.2 per cent. The CPI measures changes in the general level of prices for consumer goods and services purchased by private households.
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