KUALA LUMPUR (March 19): Malaysia’s inflation eased to 1.4% year-on-year in February, according to official data released on Thursday.
The figure is lower than the 1.6% recorded in the prior month, driven by slower price increases across most sectors, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
During the month under review, price growth decelerated across the insurance and financial services, education costs, and restaurant and accommodation services sectors.
The consumer price index (CPI), the country’s main gauge of inflation, stood at 136 points in February, compared with 134.1 a year earlier, according to the DOSM.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation rose 0.2% in February, driven mainly by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, transport, and clothing and footwear.
During the month under review, insurance and financial services decreased to 4.7%, down from 5.5% in January. Education slowed to 2.8% from 3.2%, while restaurant and accommodation services eased to 2.5% from 3% previously.
Food and beverages, which account for 29.8% of the CPI basket, rose slowly to 1.3% in February compared with January (1.5%), driven by both food at home and away.
Higher prices were recorded for sugar, confectionery and desserts, milk, dairy products and eggs while prices for vegetables, cereal-related products and oil decreased.
The expenditure for meat items increased to 1.7% with price of chicken, which accounted for 32.6% of the group, increasing by 2.5%. The average national price of standard chicken stood at RM10.75 per kilogramme in February.
Vegetable prices continued to decline, with onions, garlic and leafy greens among the items recording year-on-year price falls.
Other price increases were led by the personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services group, which rose 5.7%, followed by education at 2.8% and alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 2.5%.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels eased to 1.1% from 1.2% in January due to higher utility costs of water and rent. This group continued to be driven by increases in water charges, dwelling-related services and rental costs.
Transport inflation was on a downward trend to -0.7% in February due to higher prices for goods transport services and personal transport operations as well as vehicle purchase. Fuel prices were stable, with RON97 petrol unchanged at RM3.11 per litre, while diesel prices in Peninsular Malaysia increased to RM2.98 per litre from RM2.89 per litre a month ago.
Compared with regional peers, Malaysia’s February inflation was lower than that of Indonesia (4.8%), Vietnam (3.4%), the Philippines (2.4%) and South Korea (2%). However, the rate was higher than China (1.3%) and Thailand (-0.9%).