Food And Utilities Pushed Up Inflation In June Says Report
According to latest data from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), the country’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 2.34 in June last year and rose to 2.98 in June this year.
There was a slight increase in the food and non-alcoholic beverages segment, up by 3.2 percent, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels went up by 1.5 percent, while the transport segment registered a higher increase than the other groups, up by nearly 5 percent, and miscellaneous goods and services went up by 3.36 percent.
Chan Sophal, director of the Center for Policy Studies, however, said the inflationary rate reflected the current economic performance of the country. He said inflation was under control. “This means that our people can earn more to afford their daily expenses while the producers are also happy as they can register profit from their business.
“It is not a concern with the inflation at this rate. Whenever the inflationary rate is less than 5 percent, it will not cause any problem to our economy,” he said. Nevertheless, Mr. Sophal cautioned that if the rate is lower or reaches zero rates, it might affect the economy.
“If the inflation rate falls to zero, we have to be concerned because it will impact the profit of the producers, that’s the problem,” he said. According to the World Bank’s Economic Update on Cambodia early this month, economic growth remains strong, but there is a slight pickup in the inflationary rate in June compared to a year earlier.
“Rising prices of food and utilities have pushed up inflation, which rose to 2.9 percent year-on-year in June 2018, from 2.2 percent in December 2017,” according to the report. The World Bank projected that Cambodia’s economy will continue to grow robustly at 7 percent, compared to 6.9 percent in 2017, underpinned by upbeat investor sentiment and rising government spending.