Vol. 567 No. 6
100 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Finance the annual rates of inflation by sector for each main area of economic activity in the economy; the general annual rate of inflation for the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12246/03]
Presuming that the first part of the Deputy's question refers to the main sectors of the economy, namely agriculture, industry – including construction – and services, I must inform him that sectoral inflation rates for 2002 will not be available until the detailed national accounts become available. I understand that they will be published by the Central Statistics Office later in the year.
The most recent inflation data published by the CSO show that the annual rate of inflation in April, as measured by the consumer price index, CPI, was 4.3%, down from 4.9% in March. This was the sharpest decline in the annual rate since the start of 2001 and is in line with the general expectation that the rate of inflation will ease over the course of this year.
