Consumer prices for December fall 0.2% year-on-year

SINGAPORE — Consumer prices (CPI All-items inflation) for December fell 0.2 per cent year-on-year — compared to a month earlier’s fall of 0.3 per cent — due to base effects caused by fluctuations in car Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in a joint statement today (Jan 23).

For the full year of 2014, consumer prices were at 1.0 per cent, easing from 2.4 per cent inflation a year earlier.

MAS Core inflation, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, was similar to the previous month at 1.5 per cent, due to stable services and food prices.

Consumer prices are expected to remain subdued amid anticipated increases in the supply of car COEs and newly-completed housing units, with domestic food prices likely to continue to remain elevated in the near term due to higher prices of regional food supplies, said MTI And MAS, forecasting a 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent inflation for the full year ahead.