November CPI edges down 0.01% from previous month

The November CPI was 0.08% higher than the figure in December 2019 and 1.48% higher than that in the same month last year. The CPI in the first 11 months of 2020 was up 2.43% year on year.

Among 11 groups of products and services in the CPI basket, decreases were seen in three groups, namely transport; post and telecommunications services; and cultural, entertainment and tourism services.

The biggest contraction was recorded in the price of transport, 0.47%, largely owing to the fact that the average fuel price in November dropped 1.32% from the previous month.

The price of post and telecom services fell 0.17% month-on-month because of a variety of deals offered by mobile service suppliers to attract more customers while similarly, tour operators were offering various discounts to stimulate domestic travel demand, weakening the price of cultural, entertainment and tourism services by 0.06%.

Meanwhile, seven groups of products and services experienced rises with the largest increase of 0.14% reported in the price of garments, hats and footwear. The price of construction materials inched up 0.07% month-on-month.

The gold price picked up 0.87% month-on-month in November, while the price of the US dollar decreased 0.05%.