新西兰英语 462 Inflation

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　　The figures for the June quarter show how much prices have changed since March. The CPI is up 1% from 3 months ago. This is mostly because the costs of petrol, food, air travel and electricity have all gone up. This is not a surprise. We know we are paying more than before.

　　Stats NZ also gave the change in the CPI for the year since June 2010 and it showed an increase of 5.3%. This was partly because of the GST increase from October 1st last year. Transport costs have gone up 11% in the last year. This includes petrol, second-hand² cars and air travel. Electricity has gone up 7.8%. Food has gone up 7%. While vegetables have increased in price nearly 20% over the last year, fruit has actually gone down. Alcohol and accommodation costs have gone down a little.

　　The Reserve Bank tries to keep inflation³ below 3%. If inflation goes too high, workers will want higher wages. Higher wages increase inflation because we have to pay more for goods.

　　Grammar

　　Note the prepositions:

　　Noun: an increase of x%, a decrease of x%

　　Verb: increased (by) x%, is up / down (by) x%, gone up / down (by) x%,

　　Verbs:

　　Note the number of verbs in the present perfect. This tense shows something that started in the past (in April, or in June last year) and affects the situation today. e.g. Food has gone up (since June last year).

　　Questions

　　Do you think the high Kiwi dollar will bring down transport prices? Will the high dollar affect inflation?

　　It’s hard to understand why vegetable prices have gone up but fruit prices have gone down. Can you think of a reason for this?

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