NASSAU, BAHAMAS — While inflation remains a major concern for consumers, recent statistics indicate that there was a slight decline in the inflation rate toward the end of 2022.
The inflation rate in the Bahamas, which represents the overall change in prices, decreased by 0.4 percent in December 2022 when compared to the previous month.
According to the Bahamas National Statistical Institute, this decrease was reflected in the overall price of items purchased by the average consumer during the period. The December 2022 decrease followed a 0.1 percent decrease between the months of October and November 2022.
The transportation category saw a decline in December 2022 of 11 percent, when compared to the previous month. Furniture and Household also recorded a decline of 0.6 percent. It was noted however that over this same period recreation and culture along with miscellaneous goods and services saw increases of three percent each for the month of December.
“On a year-over-year basis, the CPI rose six percent over the same period last year in 2021,” the BNSI noted.
The major categories that contributed to this rise included recreation, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and restaurant and hotels with increases of 21 percent, 16 percent, and 13 percent respectively.
It was noted that for the review month, diesel prices were up 27 percent, and gasoline rose seven percent when compared to the period in 2021. However, compared to November 2022, diesel prices dropped 0.5 percent, while gasoline prices declined by 0.4 percent for the month of December 2022.
Central Bank Governor John Rolle noted earlier this week that consumers could see further increases in inflation before it starts to taper off.
“It’s difficult to say yet whether inflation in The Bahamas has peaked yet,” Rolle said at a quarterly press briefing.
“What people would observe is that the published inflation rates in The Bahamas have been lower than those in the United States. To the extent that we are trailing the US we could conceivably see further rises in the rate of inflation before it starts to taper off. That is not to say we will see a one-to-one rate of inflation at its highest as there was in the US.”
