Annual, monthly inflation rates done, interest on treasury bills down

Annual and monthly inflation rates dropped in October compared to September, but the annual rate increased compared to October last year, a monthly economic bulletin issued by the Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) said.

The bulletin said that the monthly inflation rate dropped to 0.1 percent in October, from 0.5 percent in September and compared to 0.2 percent in October 2001.

Annual inflation rate in October also dropped to 2.8 percent compared to three percent in September but rose compared to 2.3 percent in October last year.

Interest rate on short-term treasury bills dropped in November to 6.37 percent compared to 6.74 percent in October and 8.16 percent in November 2001.

Short-term treasury deposits in pound remained unchanged throughout the same period at 9.50 percent.

"Short-term treasury deposits in dollar dropped to 1.21 percent last month, from 1.48 percent in October and 1.57 percent in November last year.

Discount rate dropped to 10.30 percent last month compared to 11 percent in October, same as November last year," the IDSC report said.