November 23, 2007	Friday	Ziqa’ad 12, 1428

HONG KONG, Nov 22: Inflation in Hong Kong has risen to 3.2 per cent in October driven by rising food and oil prices, a weakening US dollar and an appreciation of the Chinese currency, the government said on Thursday.

Consumer prices rose 1.6 per cent in September.

A government spokesman said Hong Kong’s inflation was on a slowly rising trend because of the city’s growing economy, he added.

However, the sustained growth in labour productivity should still provide an alleviating effect, he added.

In recent months, mainland inflation has been rising on the back of the increasing price of food, in particular the country’s meat staple of pork, which has become a major concern to the Chinese government.

“There had been additional pressures from higher food prices and oil prices, the weakening of the US dollar and the appreciation of renminbi.—AFP