CNA – Singapore’s core inflation held steady at five per cent year-on-year in April, with lower inflation for electricity and gas, food as well as retail and other goods.
The lower inflation in these categories was offset by higher inflation for travel-related services last month, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) yesterday.
Core inflation had risen to 5.5 per cent in February and January this year, a 14-year high, before falling to five per cent in March.
Core inflation excludes accommodation and private transport costs. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a 4.7 per cent increase in the core inflation rate in April.
Overall inflation rose to 5.7 per cent year-on-year in April, up from 5.5 per cent in the preceding month. This reflected higher inflation for services and private transport. Electricity and gas inflation fell to 2.7 per cent year-on-year in April, down from 12.2 per cent in March.
This was due to smaller increases in both electricity costs and the gas tariff.
On a year-on-year basis, the regulated electricity tariff fell by 0.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year, a reversal from the 14.9 per cent increase in the first quarter. Food inflation moderated to 7.1 per cent in April from 7.7 per cent the preceding month, as prices of non-cooked food and prepared meals rose more slowly.
Inflation for retail and other goods eased to 2.9 per cent in April from 3.3 per cent, as the prices of household durables and clothing and footwear increased at a slower pace. The cost of personal effects fell.
