The prices of commodities in the Chinese capital of Beijing are expected to rise two percent in the later half of this year, Saturday's Beijing Youth Daily said.

The paper, quoting a report from the municipal development and reform committee, said that in the first six months of this year, the city's commodity prices saw a year-on-year increase of 1.7 percent, or 1.8 percentage points higher than the same period of last year.

The report attributed the increase of commodity prices to the price rise of water and electricity last year, and the rising interest rates for housing loans this year.

Statistics from the committee said during the January-June period, Beijing's housing prices rose seven percent year-on-year, or 6.7 percentage points higher than the corresponding period of 2004.

Meanwhile, food prices showed a slow increase.

Source: Xinhua