PPI declines for transport and communication, tourism sectors

The Department of National Planning has said that the Producer Price Index (PPI) declined for transport and communication and tourism sectors in September 2013.

PPI is the measure of the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers of goods and services.

In its report released on 16 December, Department of National Planning said that at the end of September 2013, PPI stood at 91.38 percent.

Compared with August 2013, PPI declined by 2.5 percent in September 2013.

The report states that the most significant price declines in September were from transport and communication sector (–4.02%) and hotels and restaurants sector (-3.56%), while the most significant price increase recorded in September 2013 was from fishing industry (+9.37%).

The report states that the highest PPI for transport and communication sector together with the highest positive price change (+8.24) was recorded in July 2013, which resulted from air transport and telecommunication prices.

The lowest PPI for hotels and restaurants industry was in July 2013 (84 percent) and the largest negative price change was recorded in May 2013 (-14.45).

Deputy Minister of Finance Abdul Haleem told Sun Online that PPI figures are useful for business analysis across all industries.

“This information helps us understand short-term inflation changes. It informs us how prices are set by growing industries, and helps us figure out which policies to prioritise to ensure development for these industries,” he said.

The Department of National Planning first produced a PPI report in 2001, which was never released. Yesterday’s report, in which 2007 was used as a base period, was the first such report to be released by the department.