Against expectations, Singapore inflation eased last month
Singapore's inflation eased last month, against expectations, due to the slower pace of price increases across major categories of consumer spending.
The consumer price index - the main measure of inflation - edged up 0.1 per cent last month compared with the same month last year, according to Department of Statistics data released yesterday. This was lower than the 0.2 per cent rise in March and also below economists' forecast of a 0.4 per cent increase.
The weaker reading was due to smaller increases in the prices of retail items, electricity and gas, and services, as well as a steeper fall in the cost of private road transport, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a joint statement.
Core inflation - which strips out accommodation and private road transport costs to better gauge everyday expenses - dipped to 1.3 per cent last month from 1.5 per cent in March, mainly reflecting lower retail inflation and a smaller increase in electricity tariffs.
The overall cost of retail items rose by 0.9 per cent last month, lower than the 1.3 per cent increase in March, due to a steeper year-ago decline in the prices of personal care products, as well as a drop in the prices of recreation and entertainment goods.
The cost of electricity and gas rose at 3.7 per cent last month, compared with 6.2 per cent in the previous month, reflecting a smaller increase in electricity tariffs. The cost of private road transport fell by 0.8 per cent last month, larger than the 0.6 per cent decline in March.
Services inflation eased to 1.3 per cent in April, from 1.4 per cent in the preceding month, as a larger decline in telecommunications service fees and modest increases in airfares and recreational and cultural service fees outweighed a stronger pick-up in holiday expenses.
- THE STRAITS TIMES
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