Capital Goods Prices Rise

Capital Goods Price Index: June 2002 quarter

Capital Goods Prices Rise

Capital goods prices rose 0.2 percent in the June 2002 quarter compared with the March 2002 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. On an annual basis, the Capital Goods Price Index (CGPI) rose 1.4 percent from the June 2001 quarter to the June 2002 quarter.

In the June 2002 quarter, the most significant contribution to the overall increase of 0.2 percent came from a 0.6 percent increase in the residential buildings index. This is the third successive quarter in which this index has made the most significant upwards contribution to the CGPI. The non-residential buildings index rose 0.5 percent in the June 2002 quarter, largely due to price increases in buildings for educational and religious purposes.

The index for transport equipment fell by 0.3 percent this quarter, the first decrease in this index since the June 1999 quarter. The most significant downward contributions to this index came from prices of cars over 1600cc (down 0.4 percent) and commercial vehicles over 3500kg (down 0.7 percent). The plant, machinery and equipment index fell 0.2 percent in the June 2002 quarter. This was driven by a 2.8 percent fall in the computer machinery index, a 0.7 percent fall in the other special purpose machinery index (mainly due to lower prices of printing machinery) and a 2.3 percent fall in the lifting and handling equipment index.

The plant, machinery and equipment index, and the transport equipment index include a large number of imported items. In the June 2002 quarter, the appreciation of the New Zealand dollar against the European, US, UK, Australian and Japanese currencies has had a noticeable downward effect on the prices of these items.

Brian Pink Government Statistician END

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