The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic is reporting that the inflation rate for March was -0.07%, and that the first quarter of the year saw inflation at just 0.75%. As a result, the family food budget got a small break. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for March puts the annual rate of inflation at 4.29%, which aids the deceleration process and is a huge contrast to the 62.3% inflation that the country suffered during the comparable period of 2004. According to the bank, this is reason for optimism that the year will end with single digit inflation. Foodstuffs, alcohol and tobacco were the principle ingredients of falling prices with a -1.34% decrease in prices. Overall, this group of products has registered a continuous decrease in prices every month since September of 2004, with the exception of October. Poultry (-12.03%), red onions (-37.60%), and plantains (-12.95%) were the leading foodstuffs with decreasing prices. Transportation costs, due to increasing prices for crude oil, have increased by 1.33%, and vehicle prices have fallen by3.80% because of the decreasing cost of a dollar on the exchange market. See http://www.bancentral.gov.do