Cambodia's consumer price index (CPI) increased slightly year-on-year in July by 1.3 per cent, which was driven by increased food and fuel prices, according official data from the National Institute of Statistics (NIS).

"The increase for all index groups was 1.3 per cent of inflation in July 2012 was due to sub-groups such as food and non-alcoholic beverages; clothing and footwear; housing, water, electricity gas and other fuels; furnishing, household maintenances; restaurants and miscellaneous goods and services," said the report.

Kin Pisey, a senior researcher for Cambodia Economic Institute, told the Post previously that the stabilisation of Cambodia's inflation rate was a result of the country's production base improving as well as the government trying to keep the exchange rate stable.

At the same time, he said, though the country is still mainly importing to fulfill domestic demand the rate is still low because the inflation rates of the countries Cambodia imports from are very low.

The result is that Cambodia suffers no ill effects, he added.

According to the NIS's data the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages went up by 1.2 per cent.

Rice, for example, was up by 5.3 per cent; beef increased 12.8 per cent; cooking oil and fats went up 6 per cent; vegetables increase by 11.3 per cent; fruit was up by 5.4 per cent; clothing and footwear went up by 4.8 per cent; other fuels and gas went up by 1.3 per cent. Inflation between July 2011 to June 2012 was unchanged, according to the report.

It was steady at 0.01 per cent, with a slight increase in the price of rice by 0.8 per cent; fish and seafood went up by 0.7 per cent; gasoline went up by 2.9 per cent; meat decreased by 0.6 per cent; fruit decreased by 1.4 per cent; vegetable decreased by 1.4 per cent; natural gas went down by 2.3 per cent; and food went down by 0.2 per cent over all.

Kin Song, deputy director general of the NIS, could not be reached for comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: May Kunmakara at [email protected]