Inflation in January 2022 was 1.18%, and the year-on-year rate was 8.73%
Taken from Diario Libre
SANTO DOMINGO.- The Central Bank reported today that the price (CPI) registered a variation of 1.18% compared to December 2021, while the inflation , measured from January 2021 to January 2022, stood at 8.73%.
The institution detailed that the groups that contributed most to inflation were housing (3.45%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.17%) and transportation (0.88%), which explained 75% of the inflation in January 2022.
He added that the housing group, which contributed most to the general CPI in January 2022, varied by 3.45%, due to the 15.43% increase in electricity service rates, ordered by the Superintendency of Electricity, within the framework of the National Pact for the Reform of the Electricity Sector.
In addition, the behavior of this group was influenced by increases in domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 2.20%, home maintenance services by 0.89%, and paints by 0.59%.
Regarding the 1.17% growth in the CPI for the food and non-alcoholic beverages group, he explained that this is mainly due to increases in the prices of green plantains (10.79%), fresh chicken (0.66%), sour lemons (25.62%), rice (0.68%), green bananas (3.85%), eggs (1.59%), coffee (2.06%), pork (1.76%) and others.
The 0.88% variation in the price in January 2022 is due to price in regular (2.24%) and Premium (2.52%) gasoline, LPG for vehicles (2.20%) and diesel (3.24%), due to the weekly adjustments made by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs.
Additionally, the increases were due to the price increases of automobiles (1.26%), land transport services in public cars (1.40%), motorcycle taxis (1.38%), urban buses (1.79%) and taxis (1.65%), as well as vehicle repair services (0.85%).
Conversely, international airfares saw price decreases (-33.26%), which helped to prevent inflation in this group from being of a greater magnitude.
As for the CPI for the miscellaneous goods and services group, it grew by 0.70% in January 2022, mainly due to price in personal care services, such as hair washing and styling (1.23%), men's haircuts (0.69%), personal care items (0.52%), and birthday celebration services (8.75%).
The report adds that the 0.77% increase in the CPI for the restaurants and hotels group is mainly due to the increase in prices of prepared food services outside the home, such as the dish of the day (0.66%), chicken service (1.17%) and grocery services with accompaniment (0.72%).
"It is important to reiterate that the price increase observed in the price index of this group is a result of the price increases of basic inputs for its preparation, including meats, oils, rice, plantains, breads, sausages, cheese, gas, among others, which directly affect the final price of these food services," the Central Bank noted .
The Education price index registered an increase of 2.17% in January 2022, due to increases in some university tuition fees (4.61%) and language classes (1.61%).
Inflation by geographic area: North region with the highest
The regulatory body indicates in its report that the behavior of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) by geographic region showed that the variation in the CPI for the Ozama region, which includes the National District and the province of Santo Domingo, was 0.95%, the North region 1.50%, the East region 1.20%, and the South region 1.19%. The higher inflation in the North region is explained by the combination of the greater impact of the CPI on the Housing, Transportation, and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages groups, while the lower variation recorded in the CPI for the Ozama region is due to the lower variation in the CPI of the Transportation group in this geographic area.
The monetary policy authority highlights that price dynamics continue to be affected by external shocks. In particular, the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil continued to rise, increasing from an average of US$71 in December 2021 to an average of US$83 in January 2022, driven by limitations in global crude oil production and geopolitical tensions in some producing countries.
Similarly, other important raw materials for local production such as soybeans, corn and wheat registered new increases during January, of the order of 9.40%, 4.57% and 1.29%, respectively.
Likewise, the high cost of container transport remains, which impacts the prices of imported goods.
