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5 NEWS 19.1.2023 Harmonised index of consumer prices peaks at 7.3% in December 2022 Hal Mann deal for €7 million Mavina sale to Portelli A subsidiary belonging to Gozo mega-developer Joseph Portel- li, CF Developers, has acquired the Mavina Holiday Complex in Qawra for the price of €7 million from owners Hal Mann Vella Group plc. e property was owned by Hal Mann subsidairy Mavina Holiday Complex Ltd. In a company announcement, Hal Mann said that Mavina bound itself to sell and transfer to CF Developers the Mavina Holiday Complex in Triq il- Fliegu, Qawra. e property is subejct to an annual, perpetual ground rent of 5%. e promise of sale agreement is subject to a number of condi- tions precedent, including but not limited to, the issuance of planning authority permits for the redevelopment of the prop- erty and which need to be satis- fied prior to the execution of a final deed of sale and transfer of the Property. In the event that these condi- tions are not satisfied the prom- ise of sale agreement will lapse and neither party will be bound to execute the final deed of sale. e promise of sale agreement shall remain valid and effective up to 31st August 2024. IN December 2022, the annual rate of in- flation as measured by the HICP was 7.3 per cent, up from the 7.2 per cent in No- vember 2022. e 12-month moving av- erage rate for December stood at 6.1 per cent. e largest upward impact on an- nual inflation was measured in the Food and non-alcoholic beverages Index (+2.41 percentage points). e HICP measures monthly price changes in the cost of purchasing a representative basket of consumer goods and services. e HICP is calcu- lated according to rules specified in a series of European Union (EU) regula- tions that were developed by Eurostat in conjunction with the EU Member States. e HICP is used to compare inflation rates across the EU. A closely related measure of price movements is the Retail Price Index (RPI). Each monthly HICP news release in- cludes three different measures of infla- tion: 1. e annual inflation rate measures average price changes between the reference month and the same month of the previous year. Al- though responsive to recent chang- es in price levels, this measure can be influenced by one-off effects in either month. 2. e monthly inflation rate com- pares price changes between the reference month and the previous month. is measure can be highly influenced by seasonal effects. 3. e 12-month moving average rate overcomes the volatility of the above two rates by comparing the average of the latest 12 indices to the average of the previous 12 indi- ces. is measure is less sensitive to temporary changes in prices. e highest annual inflation rates in De- cember 2022 were recorded in Food and non-alcoholic beverages (13.5 per cent) and Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (10.6 per cent). On the other hand, the lowest annual inflation rates were registered in Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2.3 per cent) and Commu- nication (2.4 per cent). In December 2022, the largest upward impact on annual inflation was registered in the Food and non-alcoholic beverages Index (+2.41 percentage points), largely due to higher prices of meat. e second and third largest impacts were measured in the Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels Index (+1.07 percentage points) and the Restaurants and hotels Index (+0.88 percentage points), mainly on account of higher prices of house maintenance services and restaurant services, respectively. On the other hand, no downward impacts on annual inflation were registered for the month of Decem- ber. 1 Kindly indicate source when quoting from this release. The advance release calendar may be consulted at www.nso.gov.mt Issued by: Dissemination Unit, National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000, Malta. T. +356 2599 7219 F. +356 2599 7205 E. nso@gov.mt 18 January 2023 | 1100 hrs | 008/2023 Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP): December 2022 1. Main points ● In December 2022, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the HICP was 7.3 per cent, up from the 7.2 per cent in November 2022 (Table 2). ● The 12-month moving average rate for December stood at 6.1 per cent (Table 2). ● The largest upward impact on annual inflation was measured in the Food and non-alcoholic beverages Index (+2.41 percentage points) (Chart 2). https://twitter.com/NSOMALTA/ https://www.facebook.com/nsomalta/ Compiled by: Price Statistics Unit Contact us: National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000 T. +356 25997219, E. nso@gov.mt Chart 1. Inflation rates 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D 2020 2021 2022 per cent period annual rate 12-month moving average rate Inflation rates

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