Filenews 20 September 2023
Of the 45 categories that are divided into commodities, 25 had increases in August, according to the Consumer Protection Service. Increases in some cases exceeded 20%.
Specifically, the Service announced the Consumer Product Price Observatory for August 2023. In conclusion, the assessment made for August shows that prices show increases in 25 commodity categories out of a total of 45 categories, which reflect the increase in inflation in the food sector as well as in general inflation, which increased to 2.6% in August compared to 1.5% in July 2023.
According to the published data of the Statistical Service, inflation in the food sector reached 2023.9% in the period January – August 05 compared to the same period last year. The corresponding inflation rate in the period January – July was 8.9% and in the period January – June 8.75%. In addition, compared to the previous month of June 2023, there is an increase of 1,91% which is due to the price increase of fresh and processed agricultural products by 4,5%.
The most significant increases were recorded in fresh fish and molluscs by 20.5%, greens by 6.1%, laundry detergents by 3.5%, legumes by 3%, rice by 2.8%, flour 2.5%, sugar by 2.2%, biscuits by 2.3% and other products at a lower rate.
Furthermore, the remaining 20 categories remained stable or recorded a decrease, with the main decrease recorded in frozen molluscs/shellfish by 9.2%, frozen fish by 8.3%, bread by 3%, charcoal and toilet paper by 2%, frozen breaded/precooked meats by 1.6%, nappies by 1.2% and eggs by 1.1%.
It is reiterated that the Consumer Protection Service continues intensively the checks on the implementation of the zero VAT rate measure, recording prices of 65 products in nine different supermarkets, which correspond to 58 points of sale all over Cyprus. The assessment of the Agency for the period of application of the measure shows that this has a very positive impact and significant benefit to all consumers. More specifically, according to the last recording made on September 15, prices are maintained at a rate of 77% at exactly the same levels (or lower) as those recorded on May 3.
