Malaysia's inflation edges up to 1.9pct in August

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's inflation edged up to 1.9 per cent in August from 1.8 per cent in July, driven mainly by higher transport costs and faster price increases across several major consumer spending categories.

In a statement today, the Statistics Department said transport inflation accelerated to 2.0 per cent in August from 1.4 per cent in July.

This was driven by higher inflation in public transport services and the operation of personal transport equipment, which rose to 10.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, from 6.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent in July.

The average price of RON97 petrol rose to RM4.28 per litre in August from RM4.07 in July, while the average market price of diesel increased to RM4.60 from RM4.14.

The average market price of RON95 also increased to RM3.75 per litre from RM3.47, compared with the subsidised price of RM1.99 per litre.

The department said the personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services group recorded the highest inflation among the major groups at 3.2 per cent, up from 2.9 per cent in July.

This was followed by alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 2.8 per cent, compared with 2.7 per cent previously.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels recorded inflation of 2.1 per cent, up from 1.8 per cent in July, while restaurant and accommodation services edged up to 2.1 per cent from 2.0 per cent.

Food and beverages (F&B), which carries a 29.8 per cent weight in the consumer price index, saw inflation rise to 1.9 per cent from 1.8 per cent.

The increase was driven by food at home, where inflation accelerated to 1.4 per cent from 1.2 per cent, while food away from home remained unchanged at 2.5 per cent.

The department said higher inflation in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels was driven by the electricity, gas and other fuels subgroup, which increased to 3.3 per cent from 2.0 per cent previously.

This was attributed to a revision in the automatic fuel adjustment rate imposed on domestic users in Peninsular Malaysia with electricity consumption above 600 kilowatt-hours.

Meanwhile, inflation in the water supply and miscellaneous services relating to the dwelling subgroup moderated to 5.1 per cent from 7.3 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation rose 0.3 per cent in August after remaining unchanged in July.

The department said the increase was mainly driven by transport, which rose 0.6 per cent month-on-month after declining 1.1 per cent in July.

Personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services rose 0.5 per cent, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and restaurant and accommodation services increased 0.4 per cent each.

F&B prices, however, rose at a slower pace of 0.2 per cent, compared with 0.3 per cent in July.

At the state level, nine states and federal territories recorded inflation above the national rate of 1.9 per cent.

Negri Sembilan recorded the highest inflation at 2.5 per cent, followed by Johor, Kedah, Pahang and Labuan at 2.3 per cent each.

Selangor and Kuala Lumpur recorded inflation of 2.1 per cent each, while Melaka and Putrajaya registered 2.0 per cent each.

All states recorded higher F&B inflation except Kelantan, which posted a decline in August.