Quarterly inflation of 2 p.c. perdicted

Press, 14 July 1987, Page 3

Quarterly inflation of 2 p.c. perdicted

Wellington reporter Today,sees the release of the last measure of inflation before the August 15 election — with suggestions that the figure is good news for the Government. A high Consumers Price Index figure would be damaging for the Government, but one report suggests it is at 2 per cent for the three months to June 30. A spokesman for the Minister of Finance said last evening that even Mr Douglas does not know the result — in keeping with the Statistics Department’s veil of secrecy. But he said a 2 per cent result, if it were correct,

would be handy to the Government so close to the election. However, the spokesman said, it was the trend, not individual figures, which was important. A 2 per cent figure would bring inflation for the year to June 30 to 16.5 per cent. But that includes the effect of GST on the last quarter of last year — for which the Government argues 5 or 6 per cent can be deducted. This would take the total to just into double figures. A 2 per cent result, a little lower than some commentators expect, would be marginally down on the March result of 2.3 per cent.