The
Development Planning Unit
Government of the British Virgin Islands

Introduction

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of February 2003 stood at 130.7; up from 130.6 index registered  in the previous month (January 2003). One year earlier (February 2002) the index stood at 126.8.

Monthly Comparison

The subgroups mainly responsible for the slight upward movement in the monthly index were: Food, Beverage & Tobacco, which rose by 0.42 percent (due mainly to the upward prices of whole chicken, vegetable oil, fruits & vegetables and corn  flakes); Furniture & Household Supplies, with a 0.06 percent increase (due to higher pricing of garbage bags); and  Clothing & Footwear increase by 0.09 percent ( due to the higher prices of pampers). The other subgroups namely Housing Transportation, Services remained unchanged for the period. The Miscellaneous subgroup was the only subgroup to record a decline falling by 0.97 period due to the lower prices of toilet soap and tooth paste.    

Annual Comparison

On an annual comparison, all the subgroups indicted significant increases with the exception of Housing which decline by 0.15 percent. Food, Beverage & Tobacco rose by 0.84 percent; Furniture & Household Supplies with the largest increase rose by 9.83 percent followed by Transportation with a  was 7.88 percent increase. Clothing & Footwear had a 1.38 percent increase while Services moved up  1.27 percent . The Miscellaneous subgroup rose by 4.71 percent . 

Rate of Inflation

The point-to-point monthly and annual rates of inflation stood at 0.08 and 3.08 percent respectively.

TABLE 1
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: MONTHLY AND ANNUAL COMPARISONS
(MARCH 1995=100)

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