Palestine: Consumer price index down in February

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Sunday that the consumer price index numbers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) for the base year (1996=100), reached 146.11 in February 2005, recording a 0.61% decrease compared with January 2005.

In its statement, the PCBS revealed that prices of the following major groups of expenditure have declined as follows, Food by 2.56%, Education by 0.21% and Medical care by 0.07%.

"The price movements of Jerusalem have increased by 0.84%, the prices of Remaining West Bank (The West Bank except for those parts of Jerusalem) increased by 0.35% and the prices in Gaza Strip increased by 0.34%", the PCBS said.

The PCBS concluded that prices of other following major groups of expenditure have increased as follows, Housing by 1.25%, Recreational, Beverages and tobacco by 1.02%, Cultural goods and services by 1.25%, Transport and communications by 0.80%, Miscellaneous goods and services by 0.48%, Furniture, household goods and services by 0.43% and Textiles, clothing and footwear by 0.30%.