Dr Enzio von Pfeil submits: Excerpts from Dr. Enzio von Pfeil’s May 22, 2008 appearance on CNBC Asia:
Oil prices spiked to a new record above $129 a barrel, fueling fears of inflation and its impact on consumer spending and corporate profits. What is our outlook on HK’s April CPI out at 1615 on May 23rd?
April’s annual inflation rate will exceed 4%.Food as well as fuel prices are the headline drivers.Another one is that the ever-weaker dollar is driving up “imported”
inflation: we have to pay more HKD per unit of Australian dollar as
well as Euro. The ever-stronger Euro, for instance, is driving up the
costs of clothing and footwear imported from Europe.This increase in fuel prices is terrible for transport-related
companies. Indeed, bus fares have been hiked, but as these hikes have
to be approved by our Executive Council, the government does not allow
the bus companies to pass on fully the fuel cost rises.Meanwhile, airlines like our Cathay Pacific have the constraint of
fighting particularly with European airlines, so Cathay cannot just
pass higher fuel costs on, either: with the bulk of their income in
Euros, European airlines are paying “less” for fuel than Cathay is.HK Q1 GDP grew 7.1 pct year-on-year, …
May 28
