PETALING JAYA: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) picked up 0.2% in March 2019 to 121.1 as compared to 120.9 in March 2018, driven by the index of housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (+2.0%), education (+1.3%), food & non-alcoholic beverages (+1.1%), alcoholic beverages & tobacco (+1.1%) and restaurants & hotels (+1.0%).
Chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said on a monthly basis, CPI increased 0.2% as compared to February 2019, mainly supported by the index of transport (+2.6%), miscellaneous goods & services (+0.4%) and furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (+0.3%).
The CPI in the first quarter of 2019 recorded a decline of 0.3% to 120.8 compared to 121.2 in the same quarter of the preceding year, contributed by transport (-5.9%), clothing & footwear (-3.1%), miscellaneous goods & services (-2.2%) and communication (-1.2%).
On a quarterly basis, the CPI decreased 0.1% as compared to the fourth quarter of 2018.
In terms of overall CPI, four states namely Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (+0.9%), Penang (+0.6%), Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (+0.3%) and Negeri Sembilan (+0.3%) surpassed the national CPI rate of 0.2% in March 2019 as compared to March 2018. Meanwhile, Johor showed the same rate of increase as the national CPI.
Other than that, the increase in the index of food & non-alcoholic beverages was reflected in most states in Malaysia. Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (+4.2%) recorded higher increases for food & non-alcoholic beverages index above the national index level in March 2019 as compared to the corresponding month in 2018. Conversely, Negeri Sembilan recorded the same rate as the national index level for food & non-alcoholic beverages.
