ZCZC
BCN-32
SINGAPORE-CONSUMER-PRICE-INDEX
Singapore’s CPI growth rises to 0.7 pct in August
SINGAPORE, Sept. 24, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Singapore’s Consumer Price Index
(CPI) grew 0.7 percent in August, 0.1 percentage points higher than that in
July, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Monetary Authority of
Singapore (MAS) in a joint release on Monday.
The MAS Core Inflation, which excludes the costs of accommodation and
private road transport, came in at 1.9 percent on a year-on-year basis,
unchanged from the previous month.
The authorities attribute the larger CPI inflation to a more gradual
decline in accommodation costs. They also said the MAS Core Inflation kept
unchanged, as higher retail and food inflation offset a moderation in
services inflation.
In a breakdown, Singapore’s accommodation costs fell by 2.6 percent year
on year in August, the private road transport costs decreased by 0.2 percent
year on year, the overall cost of retail items increased by two percent year
on year, the food inflation edged up to 1.7 percent year on year, and the
services inflation eased to 1.3 percent year on year.
Looking forward, Singapore is likely to see mild increase of imported
inflation, while the domestic sources of inflation are expected to increase
alongside a faster pace of wage growth and a pickup in domestic demand.
According to the joint release, Singapore’s CPI inflation is expected to
be at the upper half of the 0-1 percent forecast range this year. The MAS
core inflation is expected to rise gradually over the course of 2018 to come
in at the upper half of the 1-2 percent forecast range.
BSS/AFP/HR/1435