Inflation fell 0.2 percentage points to 6% in August 2013 against 6.2% in July 2013 and 6.4% in June 2013, while the monthly price index continued to rise to stand at 0.3 % between July and August 2013.
According to the latest statistics released by the National Statistics Institute (INS) , this decline is pursuant to the deceleration in the pace of price increases between the months of July and August 2013 , compared with the same period in 2012 ,i.e. from 0.5 % to 0.3% .
On the other hand, the 6 % inflation rate recorded in August 2013 is attributed to the 7.8% rise in the prices of the group ” food and beverage” compared with August 2012, as prices of meat grew by 10.1%, those of edible oils rose 16.2%, fruits and vegetables (10.5%), derivatives of milk and eggs (7.1%), beverages (5 3%) and alcoholic beverages (14.2%).
The transport group also posted an increase of 7.3 % compared to August 2012 due to higher oil prices by 10%, the rise in prices of public services and private transport (5.7% ) and 5% increase in prices of cars.
In the same vein , the index of the group ” housing and domestic energy” increased by 6.2 %, due to the rise in prices of electricity , gas and fuel ( 7.3%), rent prices (5.2%) , housing maintenance (9.7%) , drinking water and sanitation ( 3.3%).
The inflation rate would be 4.4% in August 2013, exclusive of two groups of “energy” and “food.”
The INS said that the annual rate of slip in free products reached 6.8% against 4.1% for subsidized products, while the annual rate of slip in free food is 8.7 % against 3.2% for subsidized food.
Regarding the consumer price index, the INS attributed the 0.3% increase (between July and August 2013) to the 1.3% rise in index of the “food and drink» group and the 0.9% growth in restaurants and hotels prices. However, the group “clothing and footwear” fell by 3.2%, due to the advent of the summer sales.
Prices of summer clothing fell by 6.5%, those of shoes were down 5.2% and prices of cloth decreased 1.8 %.
