INFLATION reached a seven-and-a-half-year high in January, stoked by higher costs for “restaurants and accommodation services”, but leaving a headache for the Bank of Jamaica to deal with when its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets on Friday.

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica reported on Tuesday that inflation in January reached 9.7 per cent. That is the highest 12-month point to point inflation recorded in Jamaica since prices rose 9.8 per cent between August 2013 and August 2014.

The heightened inflation comes as the central bank’s MPC prepares to start its first meeting of the year. The MPC has already voted for interest rates to rise in an effort to combat runaway inflation. Interest rates were increased three times in a row last year, moving it from a historic low of 0.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent. The expectation is that the central bank will increase interest rates again later this week to bring the inflation rate within the four per cent to six per cent band by the end of this year.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business-observer/inflation-reaches-7-year-high_244088#disqus_thread