UPDATE: Cyprus electricity pushes up inflation in October

**HICP also rises**
After three months of decline, the consumer price inflation rate rose to 3% in October, from 2.4% in September.
The main reason was an increase in housing, water, electricity and gas prices, which rose by 2.1% compared with the previous month and by 13.8% compared with the previous year.
The Electricity Authority of Cyprus, which had already raised tariffs earlier this year, raised tariffs in October to help pay for the cost of rebuilding the Vassiliko power station that destroyed on July 11th after a deadly armaments blast.
Compared with the previous month, the index rose by 1.45%. As well as electricity increases, the Statistical Service cited rises in prices of certain clothing and footwear items, certain fresh vegetables, tuition fees of higher education and gas.
Decreases were recorded in the prices of certain fresh fruit and petroleum products.
For the first ten months of the year consumer price inflation rose by 3.2% compared with the corresponding period of 2010.
Meanwhile, the EU-harmonised consumer price inflation rate rose to 3.2% in October, from 2.5% in September. In January-October 2011 the harmonised consumer price inflation rate was 3.4%.