SPECIAL REPORT The November 2010 inflation figure may only have indicated a modest rise in prices of 1.7 percent compared to the same month in 2009, but on the ground the pinch is tighter.
A deeper look into official statistics may explain why the average Joe has been force to tighten the belt beyond what is expected from the marginal overall price hike.
A deeper look into official statistics may explain why the average Joe has been force to tighten the belt beyond what is expected from the marginal overall price hike.
The National Statistics Department (NSD) said the largest contributor to the inflation rise is the increase in price of food and non-alcoholic beverages.
More importantly, this mainly consists of food eaten at home, putting much pressure on grocery bills for working families (40 percent of them earn less than RM1,500 per month) and are also facing hikes in utility bills (up 1.1 percent according to official data), transportation costs (up 1.4 percent), healthcare charges (up 1.6 percent) and education fees (up 1.7 percent).
The NSD said among the sub-groups (of food at home) which showed significant increases during the period (of January to November 2010) were sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionary (10.2 percent), vegetables (8.1 percent), meat (2.9 percent), fruit (1.7 percent), fish and seafood (1.6 percent) and rice, bread and other cereals (0.9 percent).
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