CPI Some vodka with your package holiday?
According to the frankly barmy beard tuggers over at StatSA, mageu, feta cheese, hot chocolate, filtered coffee, vodka, bricks and cement, energy-saving light bulbs, tablet computers, hair extensions, and package holidays will form part of the CPI basket from January 2013. Items leaving the eccentrically-constituted basket include samp (eh?), savoury biscuits, dried fruits and nuts, frozen vegetables, dried lentils and peas, and vienna sausages. The leaner, reweighted basket – which as you know is needed to arrive at the standard measure for inflation – will have only 393 items in it as opposed to the current 402. There will also be a separate basket for every primary urban area, secondary urban area, and rural area in each province – currently there is a single basket per province. And speaking of CPI, it could break past 6% next year as electricity prices mess things up for everyone.
Comment: Hair extensions.