The groups with the greatest impact on inflation in March 2022 were food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.18%), transportation (0.67%), miscellaneous goods and services (0.84%), and restaurants and hotels (0.96%). To a lesser extent, price variations in the furniture and household goods (0.65%) and housing (0.24%) groups also contributed.
SANTODOMINGO.-The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic reported today that the year-on-year inflation rate, that is, for the last 12 months, from March 2021 to March 2022, stood at 9.05%, being 2.3 times higher than the 4.0% center of the target range.
"It is worth noting that the year-on-year result includes the 2.80% inflation of the first three months of 2022," the entity stated in its report.
The institution noted that year-on-year inflation in advanced economies “has similarly shown a marked increase in the current context.” It cited that this indicator for countries like the United States stood at 8.5% at the end of March, more than four times higher than the Federal Reserve’s long-term average target of 2.0% and the highest in the last 40 years.
However, it was noted that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the Dominican Republic rose by 0.67% in March 2022 compared to February of the same year, showing a slowdown compared to the rates of 1.18% and 0.92% observed in January and February of the same year, respectively. In this regard, the accumulated inflation for the first quarter of 2022 was 2.80%.
“It is important to point out that domestic price dynamics continue to reflect more persistent external inflationary pressures than anticipated, which have intensified with the Russia-Ukraine military conflict, causing additional increases in the pricesof inputs and primary goods (commodities) for production, including oil, which has reached over US$100 per barrel,” the bank noted.
He also mentioned the costs of shipping containers, which remain well above pre-pandemic levels, and continued disruptions in international supply chains.
Groups by incidence
Analysis of the CPI shows that the groups with the greatest impact on inflation in March 2022 were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (1.18%), Transportation (0.67%), Miscellaneous Goods and Services (0.84%), and Restaurants and Hotels (0.96%). To a lesser extent, price variations in the Furniture and Household Goods (0.65%) and Housing (0.24%) groups also contributed.
The Central Bank reported that the set of measures announced by the Presidency, particularly the subsidy for domestic fuels to avoid further increases due to the rise in the international price of oil, has begun to be reflected in a moderation of inflation in the Transportation group, reducing its impact on the variation of the general CPI.
The above is expected to continue to strengthen in the coming months, as long as fuel prices remain unchanged
