Hong Kong: Inflation shoots up in April
Inflation rose to 2.9% in April, from 2.1% in March. When accounting for the effects of one-off government relief measures, inflation also came in at 2.9%, up from 2.6% in March. The print was mainly driven, on one hand, by a reduction of government housing support this financial year, and on the other, by higher prices for transport as well as holiday package tours.
For the February–April period, the average of the month-on-month variation in consumer prices was 0.4% in seasonally-adjusted terms, up from 0.2% in the three-month period from January to March.
Regarding the inflation outlook, a government spokesperson noted that:
“Looking ahead, inflation will likely stay moderate in the near term. The earlier easing in fresh-letting residential rentals should have a mitigating effect in the coming months. External price pressures have also eased recently.”