Eating up your cash (extract)

(學習重點：漲價的說法)

The hole in your pocket just got bigger.

Hong Kong's consumer prices rose 6.1 percent in June over a year earlier – the most in almost 11 years – as higher fuel and food costs continued to raise the cost of basic necessities, the government announced yesterday.

Last month's inflation figure (通脹數據) was the highest since August 1997, eclipsing May's 5.7 percent rise in prices.

It was also higher than the 5.8 percent expected by analysts. (分析員)

Hong Kong families had to pay 18.9 percent more for food last month than they did in June last year, the government said.

Food prices were mainly affected by foods in Guangdong province, a main source of Hong Kong's fresh food, said Citi economist (經濟師) Joe Lo.

Price increases for rice and freshwater fish accelerated the most out of all the major food items.

Rice prices last month surged 64 percent compared with June last year, while freshwater fish cost households 27.7 percent more.

"Prices have gone up crazily," lamented 78-year-old grandmother Chiu Ah-hing. "Last year I could use HK$5 to buy two catties of choi sum. It now costs me HK$12 for only one catty."

In order to cope, Chiu said she bargained with the vegetable stall seller, who agreed to give her a HK$1 discount if she buys two catties at a time.

"But that doesn't help much," she said.

Benjamin Scent

The Standard, 22 July 2008

 

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