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Singapore's CPI falls for 22nd month in August

Xinhua, September 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Singapore's Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell by 0.3 percent in August year-on-year, the 22nd straight month of decline, according to the latest data jointly released by Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Friday.

CPI-All Items inflation dipped 0.3 percent in August year-on-year, compared to the 0.7 percent drop in July. This mainly reflected a smaller decline in private road transport cost, and to a smaller extent, higher services inflation.

MTI and MAS said that private road transport cost fell by a more modest 1.0 percent, compared to the 4.4 percent fall in the preceding month. This was due to the expiry of the one-year road tax rebate for petrol vehicles, in addition to a smaller decrease in petrol prices.

Accommodation cost fell by 3.6 percent in August, similar to the previous month, reflecting the continued softness in the housing rental market.

The authorities said services inflation edged up to 1.7 percent in August, from 1.6 percent in the previous month. Public road transport cost increased by 0.9 percent, compared to a decline of 0.8 percent in July, given the low base in August last year.

In comparison, the price of education services rose at a slower pace, reflecting a more moderate increase in university fees compared to last year.

Food inflation eased slightly to 2.0 percent in August compared with 2.1 percent in July. This was due to a smaller increase in the cost of non-cooked food which more than offset the stronger pickup in the price of restaurant meals.

Inflation as measured by CPI less imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation (OOA) rose to 0.6 percent in August from 0.1 percent a month earlier, mainly on account of the smaller contraction in private road transport cost.

MAS Core Inflation, which excludes the cost of accommodation and private road transport, remained at 1.0 percent in August. The figure is unchanged from the previous month, as the uptick in services inflation was offset by more moderate increases in food prices.

As for the whole year of 2016, MAS Core Inflation is likely to average around 1 percent. CPI-All Items inflation has troughed in the second quarter of this year, and is projected to rise in the coming months. Endit