The Tribune

INFLATION continued to slowly moderate in October 2023 with the trailing 12-month increase of 2 percent at its lowest level for more than two-and-a-half years.

Data released yesterday by The Bahamas National Statistical Institute showed that March 2021, some two years and seven months beforehand, was the last time that year-over-year inflation was below 2 percent.

While many middle and lower income Bahamians may not be feeling it, the date will likely give

government policymakers and economists some encouragement that the post-COVID inflation surge is starting to taper off even though prices are not decreasing.

“On a year-over-year basis, the CPI (consumer price index) rose a little over 2 percent over the same period last year in 2022,” the Institute said. “The major categories that contributed to this rise, included health, 9.3 percent; furniture and household equipment furnishings at 6.9 percent; and alcoholic beverages and tobacco [at] 5.4 percent, respectively.

“Meanwhile, transportation had the largest decrease of 8.5 percent during this same period last year.” Inflation measures the sustained rise in a weighted average of prices, and in the Bahamian context it increased sharply in the years immediately following the COVID pandemic as it did the rest of the world, sparking a cost of living crisis.

On a month-over-month basis, inflation increased by just 0.1 percent in October 2023 compared to the

previous month of September. “The monthly inflation rate in The Bahamas, which represents the overall change in prices, for 2023 increased by 0.1 percent when compared to September 2023,” the Bahamas National Statistical Institute said.

“This increase is reflected in the overall price of items purchased by the average consumer during this period. This October increase followed a 0.2 percent increase between the months of August 2023 and September 2023.

“Meanwhile, on a month-to-month, the major increases by group include health, along with furniture and furnishings, that saw increases of 4.7 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communications, along with food and non-alcoholic beverages, saw declines of 5.7 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, for the month of October when compared to September 2023,” the Institute added.

“Gasoline prices saw an increase of 5.2 percent when compared to this time last year. Meanwhile, diesel prices continue to decline by 11.2 percent when compared to this period in 2022. Furthermore, on a monthly basis for October 2023, both gasoline and diesel prices saw increases. Diesel increased by 3.6 percent and gasoline by 0.7 percent when compared to September 2023.”