Cost of living up according to Consumer Price Index

The consumer price index for March, a government-issued list of the retail prices of basic household goods and services, has been released by the Statistical Institute of Belize.  There has been an increase in the inflation rate, primarily the result of higher prices in food, housing, water, electricity and gas, among other factors.  The inflation rate for the first quarter of the calendar year presently stands at one point seven percent.  Last month, the most noteworthy increases on the food index were for beef, pork, black beans, red kidney beans, cabbage, carrots, onions and lime.  Conversely, the cost of sweet pepper and tomato fell significantly because of generous increases in the supply of both products.  As was reported in February, home rentals in March, particularly in Dangriga, San Ignacio and Belize City were almost two percent higher than in the same month in 2013.  Similarly, butane prices rose by more than ten percent with the mean cost of a hundred pound cylinder up from a hundred and sixteen dollars to a hundred and twenty-eight.  Of all seven municipalities, Dangriga recorded the highest inflation rate, while Orange Walk Town was the lowest.