Beneficiaries hardest hit by inflation in Q1 as cigarette costs rise

Beneficiaries hardest hit by inflation in Q1 as cigarette costs rise
Tina Morrison
By Tina Morrison May 4 (BusinessDesk) - Beneficiaries were the hardest hit by inflation in the first quarter of this year, as they felt the impact of higher costs for cigarettes and tobacco. Overall costs for beneficiaries rose 1.4 percent in the March 2017 quarter, compared with the December 2016 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. The agency began publishing the quarterly data in November last year to provide new insights into inflation experienced by 13 different groups including beneficiaries, Maori, pensioners and others ba...