CPI falls for fifth consecutive month
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — Prices here continued to fall for the fifth consecutive month in March, with the All-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) down by 0.3 per cent year-on-year, data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) showed today (April 23).
MAS core inflation, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, eased to 1.0 per cent last month compared to 1.3 per cent the preceding month.
On the CPI outlook in the months ahead, MAS and MTI said that external sources of inflation should “remain generally benign”. Global oil prices are likely to be much lower for the whole of this year compared to the average of US$93 per barrel recorded last year, they added. “Although underlying cost pressures stemming from the tight labour market remain, the pass-through to consumer prices could be constrained in the near term by the moderate growth environment,” MAS and MTI said. “Car prices and imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation will also continue to dampen inflationary pressures, amid the expected increase in the supply of COEs and newly-completed housing units.”
For this year, the official forecast for CPI for all items is between -0.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent. Core inflation is projected to be between 0.5 and 1.5 per cent.
