Page 6 - May 2017

Pound sterling traded at an average of US$1.2919 in May 2017 compared to US$1.2624 in
April 2017.

Despite political uncertainties, major stock markets rose as investors favoured more risk-
taking. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index, MSCI Developed Markets Index and MSCI Global
Equity Index rose by 2.8 per cent, 2.1 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, while the NASDAQ
and Dow Jones posted respective gains of 2.5 per cent and 0.3 per cent. Among the European
market indices, FTSE, DAX and CAC-40 grew by 4.4 per cent, 1.4 per cent and 0.3 per cent,
respectively. In major emerging markets, the Hang Seng and Bombay SENSEX gained 4.2 per cent
and 4.1 per cent, respectively. However, the JALSH and Shanghai Exchange Composite lost 1.2 per
cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

Global oil and food prices showed a mixed trend in May 2017. ICE Brent Crude averaged
US$51.4 a barrel in May 2017, down from US$53.9 a barrel in April 2017. NYMEX WTI (West Texas
Intermediate crude oil) dropped from an average of US$51.2 a barrel in April 2017 to US$48.6 a
barrel in May 2017. The Food and Agriculture Organisation Food Price Index (FFPI) gained 2.2 per
cent, from 168.9 points in April 2017 to 172.6 points in May 2017, or by 10.2 per cent higher than
its May 2016 level. The rise in the FFPI was driven by price increases in dairy products, vegetable
oils, cereals, and meat.

Domestic developments

The country continues to attract more tourists. Tourist arrivals rose by 1.8 per cent to 96,557
in May 2017, from 94,830 a year earlier. The number of visitors from Europe went down by 3.0 per
cent mainly on account of respective declines of 11.8 per cent and 3.2 per cent registered in the
tourist arrivals from U.K. and Germany that were partly offset by increases in arrivals from France
and Italy to the tune of 2.2 per cent and 19.2 per cent, respectively. The number of visitors from
Asia rose by 11.6 per cent, with arrivals from India and China recording 15.9 per cent and 8.2 per
cent growth, respectively. The African market was up by 1.7 per cent, with tourist arrivals from
Reunion Island and South Africa rising by 6.0 per cent and 6.1 per cent, respectively.

Both headline and year-on-year inflation rose in May 2017, as the Consumer Price Index
(CPI) increased from 113.4 in April 2017 to 114.6 in May 2017. Headline inflation went up from

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