The composite consumer price index of Hong Kong rose 1.8 percent in October over a year earlier, up on September's 1.6 percent rise, official sources said Tuesday.

The Census and Statistics Department said the year-on-year rise was mainly due to increases in private-housing rents and fresh vegetable prices.

The department added that the consumer price inflation picked up in October after the economic upturn, but the overall inflationary pressures are still modest compared with the robust pace of economic expansion.

Continued growth in production capacity brought about by rising productivity, coupled with the recent strengthening of the US dollar and the ease-back in oil prices, will help contain cost pressures in the economy, the department said.

Source: Xinhua