BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Brunei's overall consumer price index (CPI) increased by 3.8 percent year-on-year in March, the highest since January 2010, official data showed Thursday.
The rise was in line with the increase in non-food as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages prices by 3.9 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics at the Ministry of Finance and Economy said.
Statistics showed that the increase in the non-food component was driven by miscellaneous goods and services by 18.1 percent and transport by 6 percent, while the price hike in food and non-alcoholic beverages was due to the rise in food prices such as cooking oil by 27.5 percent and chicken meat by 8.5 percent.
CPI is a measure of price changes of goods and services paid by the consumer in a specified period. ■