The Consumer Price Index for August will be released Friday by the Central Bureau of Statistics and is expected to be negative, between minus 0.1 percent and minus 0.3 percent, Haaretz reported Friday.
The negative inflation rate, the Israeli paper said, would be the result of the reduction in purchase taxes, which came into effect as of August 15th, the strengthening of the shekel and its effect on rent prices denominated in dollars and the seasonal fall in the prices of fruit and vegetables. The increase in fuel prices would only partly offset these, the daily said, adding that the CPI has risen 2.1 percent over the past 12 months. The governments target inflation rate for the year 2000 is between 3 and 4 percent, said the paper.
Experts were expecting continuing decline in inflation expectations for year 2000 – Albawaba.com
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