HK's inflation rate hits almost 11-year high

Hong Kong's Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 6.3% in February, hit an almost 11-year high, mainly driven by the soaring food prices, according to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Thursday.

The increase was partly due to a number of one-off factors, such as a slice of public housing rentals for February 2007 and a lesser rates concession for January to March 2008, according to the Census and Statistics Department of the HKSAR government.

Taking no account of the one-off factors, the annual increase of the composite CPI, or the underlying inflation rate, surged to 5.1% in February 2008 from 4.3% in January, said the Department.

As regards to the food prices hike, the price of pork surged most by 56%, followed by an increase of 49% for beef, 32.7% for fresh vegetables, 31.6% for canned meat. The housing price surged 9.2% year-on-year, price for electricity, gas and water leapt 7.4%, while the price of durable goods declined 3.7% year-on-year.