KATHMANDU: A sharp
hike in prices of key food items, clothes, footwear, and housing and
utilities cost pushed inflation to 10.2 percent in March as against
seven percent reported in the same period last year.
The inflation recorded in the period was 0.7 percentage point higher than the revised annual target of 9.5 percent.
On average, prices of food items shot up by 11.3 percent, while prices of non-food items went up by 9.3 percent in March, the latest macroeconomic report of Nepal Rastra Bank made public on Tuesday shows.
Prices of cereal grains and their products, which contribute to 14.81 percent to the inflation basket, rose by 12.9 percent during the month, while prices of meat and fish soared by 17.1 percent. Similarly, ghee and oil became dearer by 13.9 percent and prices of legume varieties increased by 12.6 percent in the same period.
Among non-food items, prices of clothes and footwear went up by 11.5 percent, while housing and utilities cost increased by 9.7 percent in March. Similarly, education cost soared by 12.5 percent and transport cost went up by 8.4 percent in the review period.
Data show consumer prices increased by 10.8 percent in Kathmandu Valley followed by 10.2 percent in the Terai and 9.6 percent in the hilly region of the country in March.
Inflation has remained on the higher side so far this year because of lower agricultural harvest, wage pressures, hike in fuel prices, continued power shortages and supply-side constraints like presence of layers of intermediaries and black marketeering.
It is said supply-side constraints, depreciation of Nepali rupee against major currencies as in the recent case, rising wages and structural problems like lack of or low quality of infrastructure make two-third contribution to price hike in the domestic market. The rest is attributed to rising prices in India, from where Nepal imports most of its goods.
Despite double digit hike in consumer prices, wages increased by only 7.8 percent in March, with agricultural laborers witnessing 12.5 percent hike in wages. Wages of construction workers, on the other hand, went up by 8.1 percent in March, while carpenters saw their wages go up 6.1 percent.
Those working for the government, public corporation and banks and financial institutions, meanwhile, were biggest losers in March as they did not see any hike in their salaries.
Source: myrepublica, 16th April 2013
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The inflation recorded in the period was 0.7 percentage point higher than the revised annual target of 9.5 percent.
On average, prices of food items shot up by 11.3 percent, while prices of non-food items went up by 9.3 percent in March, the latest macroeconomic report of Nepal Rastra Bank made public on Tuesday shows.
Prices of cereal grains and their products, which contribute to 14.81 percent to the inflation basket, rose by 12.9 percent during the month, while prices of meat and fish soared by 17.1 percent. Similarly, ghee and oil became dearer by 13.9 percent and prices of legume varieties increased by 12.6 percent in the same period.
Among non-food items, prices of clothes and footwear went up by 11.5 percent, while housing and utilities cost increased by 9.7 percent in March. Similarly, education cost soared by 12.5 percent and transport cost went up by 8.4 percent in the review period.
Data show consumer prices increased by 10.8 percent in Kathmandu Valley followed by 10.2 percent in the Terai and 9.6 percent in the hilly region of the country in March.
Inflation has remained on the higher side so far this year because of lower agricultural harvest, wage pressures, hike in fuel prices, continued power shortages and supply-side constraints like presence of layers of intermediaries and black marketeering.
It is said supply-side constraints, depreciation of Nepali rupee against major currencies as in the recent case, rising wages and structural problems like lack of or low quality of infrastructure make two-third contribution to price hike in the domestic market. The rest is attributed to rising prices in India, from where Nepal imports most of its goods.
Despite double digit hike in consumer prices, wages increased by only 7.8 percent in March, with agricultural laborers witnessing 12.5 percent hike in wages. Wages of construction workers, on the other hand, went up by 8.1 percent in March, while carpenters saw their wages go up 6.1 percent.
Those working for the government, public corporation and banks and financial institutions, meanwhile, were biggest losers in March as they did not see any hike in their salaries.
Source: myrepublica, 16th April 2013
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Gold Price Falls by Rs.3000 in Nepal
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