NILAI: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed gratitude that Malaysia’s inflation rate rose at a slower pace despite several state elections being held in recent weeks.
“Alhamdulillah alhamdulillah alhamdulillah,” he said briefly when asked about this after attending Friday prayers at Masjid KLIA here on Friday (July 17).
This follows the recently concluded Johor polls and the upcoming Negri Sembilan state election.
Earlier today, it was reported that Malaysia’s inflation rose at a slower pace of 1.9 per cent in June this year, compared with 2.0 per cent in the previous month, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
DOSM said the slower increase was mainly due to the transport group, which rose to 2.8 per cent from 3.8 per cent in the previous month.
"Among the groups that recorded increases as compared with the previous quarter were insurance and financial services (5.2 per cent); transport (3.6 per cent); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2.8 per cent); information and communication (2.1 per cent); housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.2 per cent); recreation, sport and culture (1.0 per cent) and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (0.4 per cent).
"However, the slower increases in personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (4.3 per cent); restaurant and accommodation services (2.6 per cent); education (2.2 per cent) and health (1.3 per cent), to a certain extent, eased Malaysia's inflation in the second quarter of 2026,” DOSM said.
DOSM pointed out that seven states recorded increases above the national inflation level (1.9 per cent), namely Pahang (2.6 per cent), Johor (2.5 per cent), Negri Sembilan (2.5 per cent), Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan (2.3 per cent), Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (2.2 per cent), Kedah (2.0 per cent) and Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (2.0 per cent).
"All states registered an increase in inflation for food and beverages except Kelantan (-0.7 per cent),” it said.
