KUALA LUMPUR (May 22): Inflation in Malaysia remained steady in April as expected, driven by a slower increase in food prices while costs of personal care goods and services picked up, official data on Thursday showed.

The consumer price index, Malaysia’s main gauge of inflation, rose 1.4% in April when compared to the same month in 2024, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said in a statement. That matches the median of a Bloomberg survey and March’s 1.4% year-on-year gain.

On a month-on-month basis, the index was up 0.1% in April.

Food and beverages, which account for nearly 30% of the index’s weightage, rose 2.3% in April, decelerating slightly from March’s 2.5% gain. Fresh coconut milk, in particular, surged 34% in April while the instant products climbed 15%, driven by demand for the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive season.

The government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, expects the price of coconut milk to begin stabilising in May following additional imports from Indonesia and several other countries.

The category that covers personal care, social protection, and miscellaneous goods-and-services meanwhile climbed 4.1% year-on-year in April, faster than March’s 3.6% gain.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile products such as fresh food and excludes price-controlled items, rose 2.0% in April from a year earlier.

For the whole year, headline inflation is projected to remain within a moderate 2.0% to 3.5% range thanks to moderating global costs and absence of excessive demand, Bank Negara Malaysia said last week.