North America Edition
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Higher vegetable prices over the festive season drove up Jamaica’s inflation rate to 1.3 per cent for December 2020 as measured by the Consumer Price Index. This puts the rate at 0.8 percentage points higher than the inflation rate recorded for December 2019.
Data released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) bulletin showed that for December 2020, the index for the division ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ increased by 2.4 per cent. It was mainly attributed to an increase of 2.5 per cent in the index for the group ‘food’ due to higher prices for vegetables, particularly tomatoes, carrots, cabbage and sweet pepper.
As reported on loopjamaica.com, the shock to agricultural prices came from volatility in agricultural supplies during the onset of COVID-19 and losses from heavy showers the country experienced during the month of October and November.
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