KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 19): Malaysia’s inflation eased slightly in September as slower increases in housing and utility costs offset stronger transport price pressures, official data released on Monday showed.
The consumer price index, the country’s main inflation gauge, rose 1.8% from a year earlier, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia. The reading was below the median forecast of 1.9% in a Bloomberg survey and August’s 1.9% year-on-year increase.
On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices increased 0.1% in September, slowing from 0.3% in August.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile items and administered prices, remained unchanged at 1.7% year-on-year.
The housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels category, which accounted for 23% of the index’s basket, recorded a slower annual increase of 1.4%, compared with 2.1% in August.
The slower increase in electricity, gas and fuel costs was due to a revision of the automatic fuel adjustment rate for domestic consumers in Peninsular Malaysia using more than 800 kilowatt-hours.
The food and beverage index, which accounts for about 30% of the index’s weightage, rose 1.8% in September as food-at-home products moderated while the food-away-from-home subgroup recorded growth.
Transport inflation also increased as higher vehicle operating costs outweighed slower price increases for public transport services. Prices for the operation of personal transport equipment rose 2.7%, accelerating from 1.8% in August, though public transport services inflation moderated to 7.8% from 10.5%.
Information and communication inflation eased to 1.8% from 2.6%, while personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services inflation slowed to 2.8% from 3.2%.