Canada's inflation rate fell to 1.7% in April, but food prices are surging!
Statistics Canada said on Tuesday that consumer inflation dropped significantly due to the cancellation of the federal carbon tax at the beginning of April, but the rising cost of grocery prices has already shown pressure.
The annual inflation rate fell to 1.7% in April, down from 2.3% in March. Nevertheless, it remained slightly higher than economists' general forecast of 1.6%.
Statistics Canada pointed out that thanks to the cancellation of the carbon tax and the decline in global oil prices due to falling demand and increased production by OPEC countries, gasoline prices fell year-over-year by 18.1%, and natural gas prices also dropped by 14.1%. Therefore, Canadian consumers felt relief in fuel prices in April.
However, if energy prices were excluded from the Consumer Price Index, Canada's inflation rate for April was actually 2.9%, up from 2.5% in March, indicating that non-energy consumption pressures are still rising.
Among all provinces, Quebec is the only region where inflation has not slowed down, as the province has its own carbon trading system and therefore did not benefit from the cancellation of the federal carbon tax.
Although fuel costs have decreased, grocery prices are surging crazily.
Statistics Canada noted that supermarket food prices rose 3.8% year-over-year in April, up from 3.2% in March.
In particular: fresh vegetable prices increased by 3.7%; fresh and frozen beef prices surged by 16.2%; coffee and tea prices rose by 13.4%.
This is already the third consecutive month that food inflation has exceeded overall inflation.
In addition, Canadian travelers are also feeling the pressure: tour package fees rose 3.7% month-over-month in April, reversing the downward trend seen in March.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832670409843724/
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