Inflation low by lower electricity costs

Inflation was lower in the third quarter of 2012 than in the previous quarter on Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius, the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics reported this week. Lower cost for electricity on Saba and St. Eustatius helped to keep inflation low. On Bonaire inflation was 2.3 per cent, St. Eustatius 4.6 per cent, and Saba 3.0 per cent. The main causes of the decreases are lower prices for electricity on St. Eustatius and Saba and lower food price increases on Bonaire and Saba.

Inflation on Saba was lower in the third quarter than in the second quarter: 3.0 per cent compared with 3.9 per cent. Prices of food and electricity in particular contributed to the decrease. Food cost 5.6 per cent more than 12 months previously, while the increase in the second quarter had been 9.5 per cent. And just as on St. Eustatius, electricity was a lot cheaper than in the same period last year.

On St. Eustatius, inflation was 0.6 per cent lower in the third quarter than in the previous quarter. The decrease was the result of lower electricity prices: electricity cost much less than in the same period last year after a sharp fall in prices in the third quarter. Food prices had a slightly upward effect on inflation on the other hand.

Inflation on Bonaire was 2.3 per cent in the third quarter. This is 0.7 per cent lower than in the second quarter of 2012. The decrease was mainly caused by the much smaller increase in food prices in the third quarter, 3.0 per cent, than in the second quarter, when it was 6.0 per cent. Prices of alcoholic drinks, tobacco and home furnishings also had a downward effect on inflation.

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Source: “The Daily Herald” 2012-10-19