Economy

Macao to 'timely' adopt measures to ease inflation

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-23 00:57

MACAO - The government of Macao special administrative region (SAR) will closely follow local economic development and will "timely" adopt specific measures to ease the inflation pressure on local residents, the SAR's economic chief said on Thursday.

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The appreciation of RMB and the supply of daily necessities from the Chinese mainland to the SAR have been the two major factors that affect local inflation, said Tam Pak Yuen, the SAR's secretary for economy and finance, on the sideline of a public function.

Macao's Composite CPI (consumer price index) for June 2010 increased by 2.68 percent year-on-year, which was attributable to the price increase of food and non-alcoholic beverages and transport, according to the latest figures from the SAR's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

Tam also predicted that local inflation rate might go up in the second half of this year.

However, he also said that the authorities will only use average figures for a whole period of 12 months as the major indicator for inflation changes, instead of the monthly figures.

The average Composite CPI for the first half of 2010 increased by 2.09 percent year-on-year, and for the 12 months ended June 2010, the average Composite CPI rose slightly by 0.97 percent from the preceding period, according to the DSEC.

The SAR's Chief Executive Chui Sai On has said that once the inflation rate reaches three percent, the SAR government will adopt a series of specific measures to ensure the life quality of the local residents, especially the disadvantaged group.