May CPI up 3.9% year-on-year, led by transport

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.9% year-on-year in May 2017 compared with a 4.4% increase in April 2017, led by increases in the indices for transport (+13.1%), food & non-alcoholic beverages (+4.4%), recreation services & culture (+2.9%), health (+2.9%), restaurants & hotels (+2.3%) and housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (+2.2%).
The transport group index showed a significant increase of 13.1% on a year-on-year basis in May 2017, after rising 16.7% in April 2017. The average price of a litre of RON95 petrol was RM2.09 in May 2017 compared with RM1.70 in May 2016. As for RON97, the average price increased to RM2.37 in May 2017 from RM2.05 in May 2016.
The index for food & non-alcoholic beverages, which accounts for 30.2% in the CPI weights, increased 4.4% in May 2017, fuelled by food sub-group that comprised mainly oils & fats (+38.9%), fish & seafood (+7.7%) and meat (+5.1%). The index for food away from home was up 4.9% in May 2017.
Based on seasonally adjusted terms, the overall CPI for May 2017 decreased 0.2% compared with April 2017.
Core inflation rose 2.6% in May 2017 compared with the same month of the previous year, influenced by price increases for food & non-alcoholic beverages (+4.2%) and transport (+3.1%), recreation services & culture (+2.9%), health (+2.9%) and housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (+2.7%).
The CPI for January to May 2017 registered an increase of 4.3% compared with the same period last year, mainly contributed by the index for food & non-alcoholic beverages, which increased 4.1%. The jump was the result of increases in the index for food at home (+4.3%) and food away from home (+4.3%).