Cost of getting by getting too high

The price of grains and cereal products doubled while that of rice and rice products more than doubled in comparison to last October. As matters stand, there seems to be no end in sight to the price spiral. Rice and rice products, grains and cereal products, pulses, meat, fish and eggs, restaurant meals, milk and milk products - you name it, all are getting costlier.
Grains and cereal products witnessed a year-on-year (y-o-y) price rise of 21.3 per cent in the review period compared to an increase of 11.2 per cent in the same period last fiscal year. Price of rice and rice products of this sub-group increased at a higher rate of 25.1 per cent compared to an increase of 12.3 per cent a year ago. Indices of pulses, meat, fish and eggs, restaurant meals, milk and milk products and spices rose by 24.7, 22, 17.2, 16.7 and 13.4 per cent respectively in the review period against a rise of 14.6, 5.3, 4.2, 5.9 and 7.3 per cent respectively in mid-October 2007, Nepal Rastra Bank data reveals.
The significant rise in food and beverages prices pushed y-o-y consumer inflation to 14.1 per cent in mid-October from 6.3 per cent in the same period last year.
"Food and beverages group price rose by 15.2 per cent, and non-food and services group price rose by 12.9 per cent in the review period against 9.5 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively a year ago," it said.
In the food and beverages group, price indices of sugar and sugar-related products as well as oil and ghee sub-groups increased by a whopping 39.5 per cent and 35.4 per cent respectively on a y-o-y basis in mid-October compared to an increase of -18.4 per cent and 12.8 per cent respectively last year.
In the group of non-food and services, index of transport and communication, housing goods and services as well as tobacco and related products rose by 23.1, 18.3 and 12.7 per cent in mid-October 2008 compared to a rise of -0.5, 2.5 and 3.2 per cent respectively during the same period of last year.
In the review period, y-o-y core inflation rose to 13.1 per cent from 4.7 per cent a year ago. The price of construction material also increased almost four-fold. "Of imported commodities, the price index of petroleum products and coal increased by a whopping 39.4 per cent on a y-o-y basis in mid-October compared to an increase of 1.9 per cent a year ago, said the NRB report.
However, the salary and wage rates are going down. The overall y-o-y salary and wage rate index rose by 9.1 per cent in mid-October 2008 compared to a rise of 11.9 per cent a year ago. Of the salary and wage rate indices, the salary index remained unchanged in the review period compared to a rise of 10.9 per cent in the corresponding period the previous year.