Fifteen months after the beginning of the health and economic crisis, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua are the economies in the region with the highest inflation rates, a behavior that was influenced by increases in fuel and transportation costs.
In the second quarter of 2020, a period in which the countries of the region were going through a severe economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, inflation levels were low and in some economies negative variations were reported.
During the second month of the year, the Consumer Price Index registered a 3.99% year-on-year variation, a rise that was determined in part by the behavior of the prices of education services, hotels and restaurants.
After the inflationary rhythm went from 3.8% to 4.1% between November and December 2019, during January 2020 the year-on-year CPI was 4.3%.
In the first month of 2020, the monthly variation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 0.24% (0.03% in January 2019), an increase driven by the rise in the price of services related to housing, some food and recreational and cultural items and services. With this result, year-on-year inflation stood at 4.30% (3.95% twelve months earlier), reported the Central Bank of Honduras.
During October 2019, the CPI registered a 4.1% variation with respect to the same month in 2018, an inflation rate that is lower than the 4.4% reported in September.
In October 2019, monthly inflation -measured through the variation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI)- was 0.24%, lower than the registered in October 2018 (0.56%). The monthly result is mainly the result of the increase in the price of some food products and fuel, informed the Central Bank of Honduras.
During the ninth month of the year, the CPI registered a 4.4% variation with respect to September 2018, being health services and housing rentals, the items that registered the most important increases.
In September 2019, monthly inflation -measured through the variation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI)- was 0.15%. The Central Bank of Honduras reported that the above is explained by the increase in the prices of rental housing and some services for its maintenance, medicines and health services, counteracted by the reduction in the prices of fuels and some food products.
During August, the inflationary rhythm was reduced for the third consecutive month, falling to 4.29%, which is explained by the behavior of the prices of Food and non-alcoholic beverages.
The monthly variation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 0.06% in August 2019, lower than that observed in the same month of the previous year (0.44%), a result mainly because of the reduction in the prices of some foodstuffs, which was compensated by increases in the rent of housing, some medicines and health services, informed the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH).
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Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages was the expenditure item that most contributed to the 4.7% year-on-year variation reported during the seventh month of the year.
In July 2019, the monthly variation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 0.27%, lower than the observed twelve months ago (0.38%); the monthly result is mainly due to the increase in the prices of some foods, personal care items and medicines. With this result, year-on-year inflation continued its deceleration and stood at 4.69%; while the accumulated to July 2019 reached 2.88%.
Between May and June of this year, the inflation rate in Honduras decreased from 5.1% to 4.8%, mainly because of variations in transport prices.
The monthly variation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), in June 2019, was 0.09%, lower than the observed twelve months ago (0.41%) and the lowest for this month since 2012, informed the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH).
Between April and May of this year, the inflationary rhythm grew from 4.9% to 5.1%, mainly because of variations in the prices of fuels, some services and certain foods.
The items with the highest contribution to monthly inflation were: "Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels" with 0.09 percentage points (pp); followed by "Transport" and "Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages" with 0.08 pp, each and "Clothing and Footwear" with 0.04 pp (together contributing 80.6% to monthly inflation). Likewise, the groups "Personal Care" and "Furniture and Household Maintenance Items" each contributed less, with 0.02 pp, and "Health", "Recreation and Culture" and "Hotels, Cafeterias and Restaurants" with 0.01 pp, each.
Reported prices for electricity, fuel, some household items and clothing caused much of the monthly change in the CPI recorded in the third month of the year.
In March 2019, the monthly growth of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 0.40%, mainly because of the increase in the prices of electricity supply, fuel, some household items and clothing. With this, year-on-year inflation stood at 4.14% (4.35% in the same month last year), and accumulated inflation at 1.21%, the lowest recorded for the first quarter since 2017.
The prices reported in the categories of Education, and Food and alcoholic beverages, largely explained the monthly variation of the CPI recorded in the second month of the year.
During the first month of the year, the rise in the consumer price index was caused by the behavior of the Water and Electricity Supply and Rental Divisions.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) registered a 0.03% monthly variation in January 2019, the lowest observed in that month since 2016, informed the Central Bank of Honduras.
The consumer price index registered a monthly variation of 0.56%, due to the increase in the prices in the divisions of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels.
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