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Madras ranks among the least expensive cities to live in

Despite Asian financial turmoil, Tokyo and four other cities in Japan and China have the world's highest cost of living for foreigners, according to an annual survey.

Besides Moscow in sixth place and London in eighth, all the top ten cities were in Asia. The least expensive cities were Madras in south India (placed 148), Volgograd in Russia (149) and Blantyre in Malawi (150) and Harare in Zimbabwe (151).

The cost-of-living report, which is intended for use by governments and corporations, was based on a survey conducted last autumn, said the corporate resources group, a division of the human resource consultant William M Mercer companies.

Seoul led the Asian cities that have been recovering from economic problems. The South Korean capital climbed from 48th place a year ago to tenth. Jakarta, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Manila also showed signs of recovery, the survey showed.

The firm checked the prices of housing, food, clothes, utilities, transportation and entertainment. Some 15 cities ranked higher than New York, which was taken as the base with an index of 100.

New York climbed from 21st place last year to 16th because of moderate inflation, a slight increase in real estate prices and the strength of the dollar. Chicago was at 53rd place, Miami 54th, San Francisco 58th, Los Angeles 60th and Honolulu 55th. Houston was 62nd, Washington DC 72nd and Boston 74th.

The company said the gap between the most and least expensive cities had widened to 143.8 points, compared with 114 points last spring.

Most major European cities ranked below New York, thanks to the strong value of the US dollar, the company said.

UNI

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