January inflation climbs on higher petrol price, exceeds forecast

KUALA LUMPUR: The consumer price index (CPI) for January 2017 rose 3.2% from a year ago, mainly due to the increase in petrol prices and food and exceeding a Bloomberg survey of a 2.7% rise.

The Statistics Department said on Wednesday the inflation rate rose 1.1% from December 2016.

It said the CPI rose 3.2% to 118.2 in January 2017 from 114.5 a year ago. Among the major groups which recorded increases were the indices for transport (+8.3%), food & non-alcoholic beverages (+4.0%).

Recreation services & culture recorded a  3.2%  increase; health (+2.5%), restaurants and hotels (+2.1%); education (+2%) and housing, water, electricity, gas & other Fuels (+1.9%) 

“The index of transport group showed a significant increase of 8.3% on a year-on-year basis in January 2017, after falling 0.6% and 1.5% in December 2016 and November 2016,” it said. 

The department said the average price of one litre of RON95 petrol was RM2.10 in January 2017 compared to RM1.85 in January 2016. As for RON97, the average price increased to RM2.40 in January 2017 from RM2.25 in January 2016. 

The index for food & non-alcoholic beverages which accounted for 30.2% in the CPI weights, increased 4.0% in January 2017.

Core inflation rose 2.3% in January 2017 from a year ago due to a 3.3% increase in trqnsport and also a 3.3% rise in food & non-alcoholic beverages.