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Consumer prices down 0.2% in August, 0.4% on year; deflation slowing

Page created: Wednesday, 10 September 2014 16:00 GMT

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Consumers  Deflation  Prices

Portugal’s consumer prices fell 0.2% in August, and were down 0.4% on the same month of last year, a smaller rate of deflation than in July, when the rate was minus 0.9%, the National Statistics Institute (INE) announced on Wednesday.

August was the seventh consecutive month in which the year-on-year rate was negative. The rolling 12-month average annual rate was unchanged at -0.2%.

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According to INE, excluding energy and unprocessed foodstuffs – that is, underlying inflation – the year-on-year rate in August was a positive 0.4%, against a negative 0.4% in July.

Among classes that made a positive contribution to inflation, the report highlights housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which overall were up 2.2%, the same as in July.

Among those with the largest negative contributions were food products and non-alcoholic drinks, down 3.2% from a year earlier, and clothing and footwear, down 0.7% on the year. In the latter case, the INE said this might reflect a different approach by retailers to the sales season.

PD/ARO // ARO.