. . .as cost of goods and services increases
Letuka Chafotsa
THE country’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased by 0.2 percent in May, according to data released by the Lesotho Bureau of Statistics, last week.
A CPI measures changes in the prices of consumer goods and services such as transportation, food and medical care.
According to the May CPI report, there were notable increases in the prices of bread, cereals, gas, electricity, vegetables and non-durable household goods, which were, however, countered by a decline in the cost of liquid fuels.
“The observed increase in monthly price indices was recorded for the following classes, with their respective percentages: bread and cereals with 1.8 percent, meat (0.9 percent), vegetables (0.8 percent), electricity (12.1 percent), gas (2.1 percent) and non-durable household goods (0.5 percent).
“However, the increases were counteracted by a decline of 5.3 percent in the price index of liquid fuels,” reads the report.
The annual inflation rate (the rate of change of prices as indicated by the CPI), the report further notes, increased by 0.8 percent from the 5.9 percent observed in May 2013.
“The following groups had a contribution to the annual increase: food ( 6.5 percent), clothing (3.7 percent), electricity, gas and other fuels (17.9 percent), goods and services for routine maintenance (4.5 percent), transport services (21.6 percent) and education (7.1 percent),” the report revealed.
