Cambodia's year-on-year inflation to reach 7.5 pct by December: World Bank

Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Posted by Serath

PHNOM PENH, Nov 22 - The World Bank said Tuesday that Cambodia's year-on-year consumer price inflation rate was forecast to reach 7.5 percent in December, up from 6.7 percent in September.

Huot Chea, senior economist at the World Bank's office in Phnom Penh, said inflation was "pretty high" even if rate in September had actually fallen slightly from 7.1 percent in June.

The half-yearly East Asia and Pacific Economic Update released by the World Bank earlier Tuesday said that nearly half of the increase in September reflected food prices alone.

"The price of rice, the main diet staple of Cambodians, remained relatively stable despite recent price hikes in the international market," the report said, adding that international prices for 5 percent broken rice had jumped 26 percent from a year earlier in September.

Despite such relative stability, Cambodian rice prices "may increase in the second half of this year because of flood interruption and purchase competition from neighboring countries."

The World Bank also said that the government’s rice production and export policy adopted in July last year "has started to produce positive outcomes with milled rice exports for the first 6 months of 2011 already passing the entire exports of 2010."

The half-yearly East Asia and Pacific Economic Update said that nearly half of the increase in September reflected food prices alone. At the same time, it noted that the rate of inflation in September had actually fallen slightly from 7.1 percent in June.

"The price of rice, the main diet staple of Cambodians, remained relatively stable despite recent price hikes in the international market," the report said, adding that international prices for 5 percent broken rice had jumped 26 percent from a year earlier in September.

Despite such relative stability, Cambodian rice prices "may increase in the second half of this year because of flood interruption and purchase competition from neighboring countries."

The World Bank also said that the government’s rice production and export policy adopted in July last year "has started to produce positive outcomes with milled rice exports for the first 6 months of 2011 already passing the entire exports of 2010."