SANTIAGO – In January 2018, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) registered a monthly variation of 0.5%, placing inflation in Chile at 2.2% at twelve months.
In the first month of the year, ten of the twelve divisions that make up the CPI basket recorded positive incidences and two had negative incidences, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The divisions with the highest increases were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (1.3%), Housing and Basic Services (0.9%) and Health (0.9%). Likewise, the main negative influence came from the Recreation and Culture division (-1.6%).
As reported by the INE, the product with the greatest upward movement registered in the first month of the year was lemon, which increased 101.4%. The price in the rise of this product was due to a lower supply nationwide due to seasonal factors, since its production occurs mainly in the winter months, explained the agency.
Tomato also increased by 18% in the month due to the lower availability of this product in the market, due to the late entry of production from the Limache area and the sixth region.
On the other hand, the Common Expense showed a monthly increase of 7.2%, explained by an increase in the payment of remunerations due to higher payments for overtime and occasional functions associated with the holidays of the month of December. Regarding the losses, the fruits of the station fell in their value by 7.8% monthly, while the tourist packages did it by 11.8%, due to the application of offers and promotions in this type of services.
