KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded a slightly slower rate of inflation in June as compared to the previous month, below economist expectations that there would be no change to the rate of consumer price increase.
In June, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.1% as compared to 1.2% in May - representing the index's slowest rate of increase in 52 months.
The June result showed a lower rate of inflation than that announced by regional peers, including Vietnam (3.6%), Indonesia (1.9%) and the Philippines (1.4%). South Korea registered a June inflation rate of 2.2%.
However, the June CPI in China was 0.1% and negative-0.3% in Thailand.
Malaysia's core inflation during the month was 1.8%, the same rate as in May.
According to the National Statistics Department, the decrease in the cost of food at home by 0.4% helped to mitigate the rate of inflation in the food and beverages group, which has the largest weighting on the index.
The agency also recorded a slower increase in June in restaurant and accommodation services (2.8%), recreation, sport and culture (0.8%), transport (0.3%) and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (0.1%).
Groups that saw price increases at the same rate as in the previous month included education (2.2%), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.7%), insurance and financial services (1.5%), and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.6%).
