Budget measures could lead to inflation hike

AFTER five consecutive monthly declines, the annual rate of inflation edged up from 3.1% to 3.2% in August. A modest decline was expected so this figure was disappointing. The CPI increased by 0.7% during the month, which was the largest monthly increase since March.

The increase of 0.7% in August was due to the following factors:

lThe 8.7% increase in clothing and footwear due to the ending of the summer sales. &