Rate of inflation at 0.5% for April
Latest Consumer Price Index shows no change when compared with March but an increase of half a percent when compared with last year
Print9 May 2013
The latest Consumer Price Index from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has shown that consumer prices in April were up by 0.5% when compared to the same month last year. But consumer prices last months did not change when compared with March.
The most notable changes in the year were increases in alcohol and tobacco, which jumped 5.3%. Higher prices for a wide range of food items was put down as the main reason for the increase of 0.5% of food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Education was also up by 4.8%, while miscellaneous goods and services were up by 2.5%. Communications decreased by 4.6%; furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance were down by 3.4% and clothing and footwear decreased by 1.8%. The most significant monthly price changes were increases in miscellaneous goods and services, which were up by 1.2%. This was put down mainly to increases in health insurance premiums. A decrease in transport by 0.8% was attributed to falling airfares.
"Domestic inflationary pressures in Ireland are likely to remain depressed for some time to come," commented economist Alan McQuaid. "Continued weak consumer demand will put downward pressure on prices in the months ahead. The austerity measures announced in Budget 2013, in particular the residential property tax, will again hit disposable incomes, which in turn will weigh negatively on spending power," he concluded. McQuaid says it is difficult to see the average inflation rate for the year coming in much higher than 1%. That compares to a rate of 1.7% in 2012 and 2.6% in 2011.
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