By Sherilyn Goh
Malaysia’s August inflation – as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) – grew 3.1% year-on-year (y-o-y), according to data released by the Statistics Department.
The rise in the CPI was led by costlier alcoholic beverages and tobacco which increased by 13.4%, healthcare (4.7%), restaurants and hotels (4.5%), miscellaneous goods and services (4.5%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.2%), and furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance (3.7%), among others.
The August inflation had come in slightly above analysts’ expectation, when Standard Chartered Bank Research, among others, forecast CPI in August to ease to 2.9% due to downward adjustment of domestic fuel costs. In July, CPI rose 3.3% y-o-y.
Cumulative CPI for the first eight months in 2015 therefore come in at 1.9%, as compared to the corresponding period last year.
Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz earlier anticipated full-year inflation rate to come within the 2% to 3% range, despite inflationary pressures from a weaker ringgit and implementation of the goods and services tax starting April this year.
“These are being mitigated by a number of factors. Firstly, oil prices and commodity prices have come down significantly to offset some of these upward adjustments.
“Secondly, as a result of these global and regional developments, there have been some slight moderation on consumption,” she told delegates present at the Economic Update 2015 organised by the Performance Management & Delivery Unit under the Prime Minister’s Department on Sept 21.
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