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There has been an increase of 2.1% for food prices in the January 2010 month, after five months in decline, Statistics New Zealand said today. Prices are up 2.2% from a year ago. (Update 1 includes chart. Update 2 includes economist reaction.)

Significant contributions to the rise in food prices came from higher prices in grocery food, fruit and vegetables, meat, poultry and fish, Stats NZ said. Tomato prices rose 22%, chicken meat prices rose 7.8% and milk prices rose 5.1%, while restaurant meal prices rose just 0.3%.

See the full release below:

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Food prices fell for the fourth consecutive month in November, led by declines in fruit and vegetable prices as better weather increases supply, figures released by Statistics New Zealand show. (Update 1 includes chart.)

Overall prices fell 0.3% over the month, following a 1.5% fall in October, a 0.7% fall in September, and a 0.9% fall in August.

The latest figures take some of the heat out of any inflation pressures, leaving the Reserve Bank with more leeway to leave the Official Cash Rate on hold until the middle of 2010.

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Food prices fell 1.5% in October from September as fruit and vegetable prices saw their usual spring fall, figures released by Statistics New Zealand show. This was the largest monthly fall in overall prices in three and a half years and followed falls of 0.7% in September and 0.9% in August, Stats NZ said. (Update 1 includes chart.)

Food prices in October were up 2% from a year ago, which is the smallest annual increase since a rise of 1.8% in the year to May 2006, Stats NZ said. However, prices were still up 12.1% from two years ago, it said.

Here are Stats NZ’s comments on the figures:

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Food prices fell at their fastest monthly rate in three years in August, with prices down 0.9% from July, figures released by Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) show. Prices were still up 4.6% from a year ago, although this was less than the 8.4% year-on-year growth seen in July.

The 0.9% fall in August was the largest monthly fall since a 0.9% fall in February 2006. It followed rises of 0.6% in July and 2.8% in June. Monthly growth in August 2008 was 2.7%, although prices fell 0.1% in both August 2007 and 2006.

“In the August 2009 month, grocery food prices fell 1.3 percent,” Stats NZ said.

“The biggest contributions came from lower prices for bread (down 2.7 percent), chocolate biscuits (down 6.3 percent), and cheddar cheese (down 6.2 percent). Prices for cheddar cheese, milk, and butter returned to levels last seen in late 2007 or early 2008,” it said.

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Annual food price inflation was 8.4% in July and prices rose 0.6% from June as cold winter weather hampered growing conditions and pushed up vegetable prices, Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) said on Thursday.

The 3.1% rise in fruit and vegetable prices from June accounted for nearly all of the increase in the overall index over the month, Stats NZ said. Lettuce prices rose by 41.6% over the month, and represented three-quarters of the overall increase.

The meat, poultry and fish subgroup experienced price falls of 0.7% in July, although prices were still up 12.4% from a year ago, compared to 12.1% annually in June.

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Inflation looks set to have fallen below the middle of the Reserve Bank’s 1-3% target range during the June quarter, according to bank economists. The market is expecting quarterly inflation to rise by around 0.5% from March, with an annual rate of around 1.8%.

Annual inflation was 3% in the March quarter, having fallen from a recent high of 5.1% in September last year. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the June quarter is set to be released at 10:45am on Thursday July 16.

Westpac economists said they expected quarterly inflation to be 0.4%, with an annual rate of 1.7% from June last year. They expect a rise transport prices to make the biggest contribution to the figures, with household related prices being the second largest contributor to price growth.

Westpac economists said a notable feature of the June CPI outlook is that food prices are expected to show no inflation over the quarter.

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