KUALA LUMPUR: Inflation rose 1.8% in May from a year ago, in line with a Bloomberg forecast, due to increases in transport and food and non-alcoholic beverages.
The Statistics Department said on Wednesday the consumer price index (CPI) in May rose 1.8% to 121.1 from 119.0 a year ago.
Among the major groups which recorded increases were the indices for transport (+3.8%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (+2.2%), housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (+2.1%), restaurants and hotels (+2.1%).
“On a monthly basis, the CPI increased by 0.2% as compared to April 2018. CPI for the period January-May 2018 registered an increase of 1.7% as compared to the same period last year,” it said.
Commenting on the higher CPI in May from a year ago, the department said the overall index for food and non-alcoholic beverages which accounted for 29.5% in the CPI weights, increased 2.2% in May 2018.
The increase was driven by food sub-group index which comprised of fish & seafood (+3.2%), fruits (+1.9%), rice, bread & other cereals (+1.6%) and meat (+1.0%). On the other hand, the sub-group vegetables decreased by 3% in May 2018.
In terms of overall CPI, three states surpassed the national CPI rate of 1.8% in May from a year ago. The states were Kuala Lumpur (+2.2%), Selangor & Putrajaya (+2.1%) and Johor (+2%).
Core inflation rose 1.5% in May on-year. Among the major groups which caused the higher core rate were price increases for food & non-alcoholic beverages (+2.7%), housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (+2.5%).
Core inflation excludes most volatile items of fresh food, as well as administered prices of goods and services.
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