Santo Domingo, DR
According to Central Bank statistics, among the groups with the highest incidence in the growth of the April 2021 price index were food and non-alcoholic beverages, with an increase of 0.56%. This variation is explained by the rise in prices of avocados (18.28%), oranges (11.13%), green pigeon peas (8.87%), cassava (2.80%), and green plantains (1.78%).
Other foods that showed price increases were soybean oil (1.69%), pork (0.99%), rice (0.74%), and salami (0.71%), while other products registered decreases, such as eggs (-3.40%), onions (-3.97%), fresh chicken (-0.31%) and garlic (-4.17%).
This incidence of food and non-alcoholic beverages is reflected in the consumer price index (CPI) for April, which stood at 0.41%, the lowest rate in the first four months of the year compared to 0.97%, 0.68%, and 0.60% in January, February and March, respectively.
Another group that experienced an increase in the Central Bank’s CPI was Transportation with 0.52%, due to the rise in regular gasoline prices, of 0.82%, and premium gasoline, of 0.87%. In addition, there was an increase in airline tickets of 4.74%, in public transportation fares of 0.76%, in-car fares of 0.63% and in taxi services of 1.21%, as well as buses of associated companies of 0.36%, vehicle repair of 1.41%, tires of 1.63% and batteries of 0.94%.
However, the Central Bank highlights that these increases in the transportation sector were offset by reducing automobile prices by 0.78%.
Other sectors
Meanwhile, the price index of the Miscellaneous Goods and Services group varied 0.45 % in April 2021, mainly due to price increases in personal care services, such as hair washing and styling (1.03 %) and men’s haircuts (0.47 %).
The Central Bank publication also indicates that the growth of the Restaurants and Hotels group index was 0.52 %, mainly due to increases in the prices of services for meals prepared outside the home such as a dish of the day (0.56 %), chicken service (0.58 %) and juice served outside the home (1.02 %).
The variation of 0.32% in the CPI of the Housing group is explained by the increase of 0.43% in the price of housing rental services and the rise of 2.27% in the price of paints.