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Consumers will have to dig deeper into their pockets from this month with electric bills up by 3.9 percent and with a professor forecasting soaring inflation.

Also digging deeper into their pockets are taxi drivers as the price of liquefied petroleum gas fuel keeps increasing.

Economists expect inflation to remain high this year with price rises on the way for food, daily necessities and public transport.

CLP Power raised charges by 3.9 percent from yesterday, although Hongkong Electric said it has no plans to raise tariffs for five years.

This means that 37 percent of those living in Kowloon and the New Territories will have to pay around HK$20 more each month if they use fewer than 834 units of electricity every two months.

The price of LPG for vehicles has meanwhile increased by about HK$1.20 to HK$5.90-HK$6.40 per liter.

KMB has applied to the government for a 4.3 percent fare increase or about 28 HK cents per trip on top of the current average fare of HK$6.48.

"Taxi drivers' expenses in fuel costs will sharply increase following the latest increase in LPG prices," according to To Sun-tong, director of the Taxi Drivers Branch of the Motor Transport Workers Union. "We expect that drivers will need to pay extra HK$1,500 for fuel. We hope that the government will allow taxi drivers to introduce a fuel surcharge to alleviate their burden."

Chinese University economist Chong Tai-leung expects inflation to remain high this year.

"Local food and canned food prices will remain high as Hong Kong generally imports food products from the mainland. This is because the salaries of mainland workers in the food industry are still rising," Chong said. EDDIE LUK