CHEAP food helped rein in inflation last month, with the Consumer Price Index (A) - the most commonly used barometer of prices - down at 7.9 per cent.
But the Government warned that typhoons which hit the territory in late September had already triggered a surge in the price of fresh vegetables.
A spokesman said: ''The slower increase in the CPI (A) in September was mainly due to more moderate rises in the prices of fresh vegetables and in rent for housing.
''However, there were indications that the prices of fresh vegetables surged significantly in early October.'' Economists say the September figures - the lowest since April - suggest the Government has taken an overly conservative stance in forecasting an annual rate of nine per cent.
It is the third time this year that inflation has fallen below eight per cent. In April, price rises fell to a five-year low of 7.7 per cent.
CPI (A) covers households spending less than $10,000 a month.
The bigger slice of spending on food in less well-off homes saw trimmed price rises filter through to the CPI (A) rates more handsomely than in wealthier households, where inflation was a hefty 9.2 per cent.