Hong Kong's overall consumer prices rose by 1.8 percent in March 2006 over a year earlier, announced the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department Friday.

The department released Friday the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures for March 2006 showing that the consumer prices was also larger than the 1.6 percent increase in February.

According to the department, the larger year-on-year increase in the Composite CPI in March 2006 than in February was mainly attributable to the enlarged increases in private housing rentals and the costs of meals bought away from home.

Amongst the various CPI components, year-on-year increases in prices were recorded in March 2006 for miscellaneous goods, electricity, gas and water, housing, transport and meals bought away from home.

On the other hand, year-on-year declines in prices were recorded in March 2006 for durable goods, clothing and footwear and alcoholic drinks and tobacco.

A Secretariat spokesman of the local government pointed out that consumer price inflation remained benign in March and for the first quarter as a whole, notwithstanding the further growth in local demand along with the brisk economy and an improving labor market.

Looking ahead, consumer price inflation is likely to continue to edge up at a modest pace in the months ahead, as the economy maintains solid growth momentum and as higher oil prices would feed through to the retail price level, said he.

Yet sustained expansion in production capacity brought about by rising productivity and the general strength of the US dollar should help contain the pace of climb-up in inflation, he added.

Source: Xinhua