Inflation growth below 1%, zero-rated GST seen as one reason

A sign showing the difference in price after the zero-rated Goods & Services Tax (GST) takes effect as a supervisor arranges goods at GAMA Supermarket and Departmental Store, in Penang./Picby:CHAN BOON KAI/The Star/1 June 2018.

PETALING JAYA: In a sign of receding inflationary pressure, the consumer price index (CPI) growth in June slowed to its lowest level in 40 months, coming in sharply below consensus estimate at less than 1%, according to the Statistics Department.

Thanks to the zero-rated goods and services tax (GST), Malaysia’s CPI, a gauge of inflation, decelerated to 0.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) last month from 1.8% y-o-y in May.