Malaysia’s September inflation picked up, coming in a tad above expectations, driven by bigger increases in retail prices of personal care and food, official data out on Wednesday showed.
The consumer price index, the country’s main gauge of inflation, rose 1.5% in September year-on-year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement. That compares to the median 1.4% predicted in a Bloomberg poll and August’s 1.3% year-on-year rise.
At the state level, five states recorded inflation rates above the national average, led by Johor (2%), Negeri Sembilan (1.9%), Melaka (1.8%), Selangor (1.8%) and Terengganu (1.7%). Kelantan registered the lowest increase at 0.5%.
Food and beverages, which account for nearly 30% of the product basket, edged up by 2.1% from 2% in August as higher dining-out costs offset continued decline in grocery prices.
Food-away-from-home inflation rose to 4.4% from 4.3%, driven by price increases in local cakes, burgers and cooked dishes while food-at-home prices remained flat amid lower vegetable and meat prices.
Meanwhile, egg prices rebounded, rising 2.2% after a 1.7% decline in August.
Prices were coming down in the information and communications category in which the index slid 4.5%, a smaller drop compared with 5.6% in August. Clothing and footwear prices came down slightly by 0.2%. Meanwhile, the price increment in insurance and financial services remained at 5.6%, the same as it was in August.
Prices of meat eased 0.1% in September driven by declines in local beef and frozen chicken parts, which were partly offset by a 0.6% rise in chicken prices, with standard chicken averaging RM10.29 per kilogramme nationwide, according to the DOSM.
The housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel group rose 1.5%, driven mainly by a 6.5% rise in water-related costs following tariff adjustments in six states, alongside moderate rent increases, which were partly offset by continued electricity rebates.
On a monthly basis, headline inflation increased 0.2%, following a 0.1% rise in August.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, rose to 2.1% in September from 2% in August, driven by higher costs of insurance and financial services, personal care, and food.
Malaysia’s inflation rate in September remained lower than that of several regional peers, including Vietnam (3.4%), Indonesia (2.7%) and South Korea (2.1%), but higher than Thailand (-0.7%) and China (-0.3%).
Source: theedgemalaysia