September inflation in Malaysia falls to 1.8%
Lower inflation in housing and utilities outweighed stronger transport price pressures, while core inflation remained at 1.7%.
Malaysia’s consumer price index increased by 1.8% year-on-year in September, the Department of Statistics Malaysia reported. That compares with 1.9% in August and came in below the Bloomberg survey’s median forecast of 1.9%.
The monthly increase in consumer prices narrowed to 0.1%, against 0.3% in August. Excluding items with volatile prices and those under administrative price controls, core inflation was unchanged at 1.7% year-on-year.
Annual price growth in the housing and utilities category slowed to 1.4% from 2.1% in August. This category represents 23% of the CPI basket. A revision to the automatic fuel adjustment rate moderated electricity, gas and fuel price increases for Peninsular Malaysia households whose consumption exceeded 800 kilowatt-hours.
Food and beverage prices rose by 1.8% in September. The category makes up about 30% of the index’s weightage. Price increases eased for food consumed at home, while prices in the subgroup covering food consumed away from home increased.
Transport faced greater price pressure as vehicle running costs outweighed the moderation in public transport fare increases. Inflation in personal transport equipment operating costs accelerated to 2.7%, compared with 1.8% in August. For public transport services, inflation dropped to 7.8% from 10.5%.
Inflation in information and communication also declined, reaching 1.8% compared with 2.6% previously.
