This Aug 17, 2017 picture shows a customer walking past different brands of instant noodles for sale in a supermarket in Hong Kong. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG - The Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Hong Kong was up 2.4 percent last year than the previous year, official data showed on Tuesday.

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A govt official said in the near term, the upside risks to inflation should be contained, as imported inflation has stayed moderate and as pressures on local rentals have weakened

Netting out the effects of all government's one-off relief measures, the year-on-year underlying inflation rate was 2.6 percent, according to the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong government.

The overall consumer prices rose 2.5 percent in December 2018 from the same month a year earlier. The increase was slightly smaller than that in November 2018, or 2.6 percent, mainly due to the smaller increases in private housing rentals and the costs for meals bought away from home.

The underlying inflation rate in December 2018 was 2.9 percent, remaining flat as compared to November 2018.

A government spokesman said the underlying inflation rate held largely stable in December 2018 and for 2018 as a whole.

He said that in the near term, the upside risks to inflation should be contained, as imported inflation has stayed moderate and as pressures on local rentals have weakened.

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He added that the government will monitor the situation closely, particularly the impact on the lower-income people.