Residents disappointed over lack of ‘inflation relief’

Residents who have been expecting the fall in inflation over the last year to have an impact on food prices have been disappointed. TDM reported that many residents did not witness the “inflation relief” that they expected this year.
Inflation has eased in the past few months, with the economy shrinking and the yuan depreciating. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) put inflation at 4.23 percent year-on-year for September, down from 6.18 percent for October 2014, according to government data.
However, residents say that they have not noticed a difference in prices, despite the fact that inflation has slowed over the last five months. The price of food is the main concern among locals. Inflation affecting food prices continued to rise above the average inflation rate in September, increasing by 4.58 percent year-on-year.
In 2012, the government established a cross-departmental food price committee that pledged to solve the continued rise in inflation. However, dependence on a food supply from mainland China, which is in turn controlled by a small number of companies, has stymied government efforts.
“Once the gaming revenue is stable, and [the] economy does not go down anymore, there will be no big fluctuation and I do not think inflation will go up again. This is the case especially when the renminbi becomes stable. So I think the inflation rate for next year’s first quarter will be the same as this year,” said Jacky So, dean at the University of Macau’s Faculty of Business Administration.
Mr So thinks that the government should continue the subsidy policy in order to ease financial pressures impacting residents.
With the Policy Address for 2016 scheduled for November 17, less than two weeks away, some are urging the government to launch a price regulation mechanism, along with more measures to help residents financially.