Hong Kong Consumer Prices Fall 1.6% in August

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September 22, 2009 - Hong Kong’s overall consumer prices fell by 1.6% in August 2009 compared with the same month a year earlier, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures released today by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the average monthly rate of change in the Composite CPI for the 3-month period from June to August 2009 was -0.7%.

The year-on-year rates of change in the CPIs in August 2009 and the average monthly rate of change in the seasonally adjusted CPIs for the 3-month period from June to August were affected by various Government’s one-off relief measures, in particular the implementation of electricity charge subsidy and Government's payment of two month’s public housing rentals from August 2009.

Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of change in the Composite CPI (i.e. the underlying rate of change) in August 2009 was -0.3%, the same as that in July 2009. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the average monthly rate of change in the underlying Composite CPI for the 3-month period from June to August 2009 was -0.1%, also the same as that for the 3-month period from May to July 2009.

A HKSAR Government spokesman says that consumer price inflation remained slightly negative in August, as both import prices and local business costs softened amidst the weak global economic conditions. The spokesman adds that looking forward, the upward pressure on consumer prices should remain subdued in the coming months.