New Zealand food prices rose slightly in November after adjusting for typical seasonal patterns.
Food prices rose 0.3 per cent on the month on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a flat result in October and a 0.2 per cent fall in September, Statistics New Zealand. On an unadjusted basis, food prices inched down 0.1 per cent on the month after seasonally lower prices for vegetables were mostly offset by higher prices for dairy, meat, and fruit.
Cheaper vegetables and more expensive fruit pushed produce prices down 4.3 per cent on the month, while grocery items, which account for more than a third of food prices, rose 1 percent, with cheese up 7.9 per cent on the month. Meat, poultry and fish prices increased 0.5 per cent, while non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 0.7 per cent.
The food price index accounts for about 19 per cent of the consumers price index, which is the Reserve Bank's mandated inflation target when setting interest rates. Tuesday's data showed food prices rose 0.6 per cent in the year through November, reflecting higher prices for vegetables, dairy, and ready-to-eat-food.
The CPI increased at a 0.4 per cent annual pace in the September quarter, the eighth straight quarter below the Reserve Bank's 1-to-3 per cent target band.
