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The rate of
inflation for the 2008 calendar year was 16.8 per cent. A similar 16.8 per cent
increase was recorded for the same period in 2007.
Among the factors contributing to the rate of inflation were
the movement in world oil prices, international commodity prices for grains and
cereals, fluctuations in the rate of
exchange of the J$ against its US counterpart and the reduction in supply of
certain agricultural products due to adverse weather conditions.
The index numbers for all divisions except ‘Communication’
showed increases over the 2007 calendar year. The largest upward movement was
recorded for the division ‘Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco’ (27.0 per cent)
followed by ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ (24.0 per cent).
The first quarter had a 5.2 per cent rise, while the second quarter moved up 0.8
percentage point to 6.0 per cent. In the third quarter there was a 4.8 per cent
rise. However, no change was observed in the fourth quarter of 2008.
The semi-annual movements indicated that there was an 11.5 per cent
increase for the six-month period January to June 2008 while for July to
December there was a 4.8 per cent rise.
An examination of the indices for the Regions show that the largest movement was the 17.0 per cent
that was recorded for the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area. Other Urban
Centres had an increase of 16.8 per cent while the Rural Areas rose by 16.6 per
cent.
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