Singapore’s core inflation rate in May remained unchanged from the previous month at 1.3 percent, as higher food and retail inflation offset a steeper drop in the cost of electricity and gas, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).
Consumer price index-all items inflation, however, climbed to 0.9 percent year-on-year in May, from 0.8 percent in April.
“This was driven by a more modest decline in accommodation costs as well as higher private road transport, retail and food inflation, which outweighed a larger fall in electricity & gas costs.”
Accommodation cost dropped at a more moderate pace of one percent year-on-year in May – reflecting a slower pace of decline in housing rentals and a stronger pickup in housing maintenance and repairs cost.
Private road transport cost rose 1.5 percent year-on-year, mainly due to a steeper hike in car prices which offset a smaller increase in petrol prices.
The cost of electricity and gas fell four percent year-on-year in May, steeper than April’s 2.8 percent drop.
Service inflation stood was unchanged from the previous month at two percent, “as a stronger pickup in holiday expenses was offset by a larger decline in the cost of telecommunication services fees as well as smaller increases in airfares and recreational & cultural services fees”.
The overall cost of retail items increased 0.5 percent, higher than the 0.2 percent hike seen in April.
Looking ahead, core inflation is expected “to come in near the mid-point of the forecast range of one to two percent in 2019”, while CPI-All Items inflation is expected to average 0.5 to 1.5 percent.
MAS and MTI also expect private road transport costs to pick up slightly this year, while accommodation costs could decline at a slower pace.
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Fiona Ho, Digital Content Manager at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email fiona@propertyguru.com.sg
