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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will estimate the rate of inflation in Iraq during the period of Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) rule; and what changes there were in charges for (a) petrol, (b) water and (c) electricity during the period of CPA rule. [182107] Mr. Rammell: Due to hand-recording of information, data for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as defined in Iraq are available only some months in arrears. However, based on an index of 100 in January 2003 the following monthly values for the CPI were recorded for the period end June 2003 to February 2004: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Value End June 2003 131.4 August 2003 110.6 September 2003 123.7 October 2003 130.1 November 2003 132.8 December 2003 135.8 January 2004 135.1 February 2004 128.0 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. It is likely that this pattern reflects the early appreciation of the Iraqi Dinar over this period and the subsequent stability of the Dinar: Dollar exchange rate, which has resulted in a fall in the cost of imported goods. The Coalition Provisional Authority made no changes to the charges levied for petrol, water or electricity.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

182107; 423 c845W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Fees and charges Electricity Iraq Inflation Petrol Water Cost of living

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk