Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Costa Rica $3.48, Nicaragua $3.28, Honduras $3.19, El Salvador $2.81, Guatemala $2.75 and Panama $2.56.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador report:
The increase in the reference prices for the current fortnight, according to the last two reports provided by the IEA, is because the reserves of gasoline and diesel show decreases in the last two weeks.
In the first month of the year, the FAO food price index fell 2% from January 2018, because of the decline in the prices of meat, vegetable oils and sugar.
From FAO's monthly report:
The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 164.8 points in January 2019, up almost 3 points (1.8 percent) from December 2018 but still 3.7 points (2.2 percent) below the corresponding month last year. After three successive months of relatively stable levels, the increase in January was largely driven by a sharp rebound in dairy price quotations as well as firmer prices of vegetable oils and sugar.
Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Costa Rica $3.64, Nicaragua $3.31, Honduras $3.17, El Salvador $2.78, Guatemala $2.73 and Panama $2.56.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador report:
The upward trend of the reference prices for the present fortnight, follows the agreement to reduce production by 1.2 million barrels per day by the member countries and non-members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that began on January 1, 2019, has reverted the downward behavior of the prices of all oil derivatives such as gasoline and diesel, a clear example of the firm compliance of such reduction is Saudi Arabia, the largest producer of the organization, which has assumed most of the reduction to 468,000 barrels per day, also at the end of December 2018 the organization had already reduced an approximate 750,000 barrels per day between crude oil and derivatives, which has impacted on international prices for 2019.
Because of the behavior of the costs of electrical materials, at the end of last year in Nicaragua the prices of construction materials registered a 12% increase with respect to December 2017.
The Central Bank of Nicaragua reports that "... The results indicate that the Construction Materials Price Index (CPI) registered a 1.0 percent variation with respect to the previous month and a 12.2 percent variation with respect to December of the previous year (4.0% year-on-year variation in December 2017).
Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Costa Rica $3.59, Nicaragua $3.21, Honduras $3.20, El Salvador $2.74, Guatemala $2.66 and Panama $2.64.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador report:
The downward trend of the reference prices for the present fortnight is mainly due to the increase of the gasoline reserves and the oil distillates of the United States of America (USA); according to the last report by the IEA, the gasoline reserves increased by 8.1 million barrels per week, the greatest increase in the last 6 weeks; likewise, the reserves of distilled fuels, such as diesel also increased by 10.6 million barrels per week, being the greatest increase in the last 3 weeks.
In December, the CPI registered a monthly variation of 0.6%, because of the rise in Food and non-alcoholic beverages, Recreation and Culture and Health prices.
The report of the Central Bank of Nicaragua states that "...
In December, the FAO food price index fell 4% compared to the same month in 2017, explained by the decline in prices of meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.
From FAO's monthly report:
The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 161.7 points in December 2018, nearly unchanged from its November value as lower dairy and sugar quotations were largely offset by firmer cereal prices and somewhat higher prices of meat and oils. For the whole of 2018, the FFPI averaged 168.4 points, down 3.5 percent from 2017 and almost 27 percent below the highest level of 230 points reached in 2011. Sugar values dropped the most in 2018, with also vegetable oil, meat and dairy prices registering year-on-year decreases. However, international prices of all major cereals rose in 2018.
Price per gallon of regular gas: Costa Rica $3.94, Nicaragua $3.38, Honduras $3.36, El Salvador $2.86, Guatemala $2.82 and Panama $2.64.
From the report of the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador:
The current reference prices keep a clear downward trend, because of the oversupply provided by the three largest producers of oil and its derivatives, which represent 40% of world production.
During the eleventh month of the year, the CPI registered a 0.52% monthly variation, mainly because of the prices of Food and non-alcoholic beverages, and Communications.
The Central Bank of Nicaragua reported that in accumulated terms, national inflation reached 3.24% (4.51% in November 2017), caused by the behavior of goods and services prices in the sectors of Transportation; Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; and Education with a joint contribution of 1.642 percentage points. In year-on-year terms, inflation was at 4.40%, 0.95 percentage points lower than that registered in November 2017, and subjacent inflation was 4.14% (4.07% in November 2017).
In November, the FAO Food Price Index fell 8% compared to the same month in 2017, caused by lower prices for meat, dairy products, cereals and sugar.
From FAO's monthly report:
» The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 160.8 points in November 2018, down 2.1 points (1.3 percent) from October, the lowest since May 2016, and nearly 15 points (8.5 percent) below its level in the corresponding period last year. The decline in November was led by much weaker vegetable oil, dairy and cereal prices. Meat values also fell, though slightly, while sugar prices firmed.
In Nicaragua, the Building Materials Price Index recorded an increase of almost 10% during October compared to the same month in 2017.
The Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN) reported that the Building Materials Price Index (CPI) registered a 9.9 percent year-on-year growth compared to October of the previous year (8.8% registered in September 2018 and 3.7% in October 2017).
Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Costa Rica $3.93, Nicaragua $3.55, Honduras $3.48, El Salvador $2.97, Guatemala $2.92 and Panama $2.77.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador report:
During the last two months, the oil and its derivatives production has reached higher figures than expected, this is because the two largest producers, the United States and Saudi Arabia, have recorded figures never seen before.
During the tenth month of the year, the CPI registered a monthly variation of 0.51%, mainly because of the prices of Food and non-alcoholic beverages.
According to the report of the Central Bank of Nicaragua, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed an increase of 0.51 percent (0.55% in October 2017), mainly caused by the behavior of prices in some goods and services of the Food and non-alcoholic beverages divisions (0.67%); Transportation (1.56%) and Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.82%); which together contributed 0.429 percentage points to the variation observed. On the other hand, the Leisure and culture division showed a decrease of 0.29 percent (-0.011pp).
Price per gallon of regular gas: Costa Rica $4.11, Honduras $3.84, Nicaragua $3.79, El Salvador $3.37, Panama $3.32 and Guatemala $3.29.
From the report of the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador:
The production increase of the three major exporters of petroleum and its products at the end of October 2018 has contributed to the fall in international prices; the United States have produced approximately 11.5 million barrels per day, 500 thousand barrels more than its average production; Russia 11.3 million barrels per day, expecting to reach 11.4 million barrels per day in the next weeks; while Saudi Arabia produces an average of 10.7 million barrels per day, with expectations of increasing to 11 million barrels per day. With this increase in production, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has expressed that the oil markets seem " suitably supplied for now," and with a lower expectation in the demand for petroleum and products for 2019.
In September, the FAO food price index decreased 7% compared to the same month in 2017, because of lower prices for meat, dairy products, cereals, vegetable oils and sugar.
From FAO's monthly report:
» The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 163.5 points in October 2018, down 1.4 points (0.9 percent) from September and some 13 points (7.4 percent) below its level in the corresponding period last year. The October decline in the FFPI was the result of falling dairy, meat and oils prices, which more than offset a surge in sugar prices and a more moderate increase in the prices of cereals. The October FFPI is at its lowest level since last May.