Thailand
Malaysia: Surge in oil prices fuel April inflation to highest since 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s inflation rate surged to 4.7% in April from a year ago, the highest since 2018, due to the spike in crude oil prices which fuelled the increase in petrol and diesel prices.
Chief Statistician Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said on Friday the April CPI was the highest inflation since 2018.
“The trend is expected to continue until the first quarter of 2022. The increase in the overall index was driven by the increase in index of transport (27.0%) due to the low base effect from the preceding year.
“As we know, the average price of unleaded petrol RON95 in April 2021 increased 61.4% to RM2.05 per litre as compared to RM1.27, unleaded petrol RON97 increased 62.4% to RM2.55 per litre as compared to RM1.57 and diesel increased 44.3% to RM2.15 per litre from RM1.49, ” he said.
Mohd Uzir said housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels rose by 3.1% as compared to the same month of the preceding year.
This is due to the termination of the electricity discount given to domestic consumers of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) under the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN) beginning from April 2020 and ended in December 2020.
Furthermore,the index of food & non-alcoholic beverages increased by 1.9% on-year due to shortage in supply, higher demand and uncertainty in weather.
He added even though the overall index increased but the core index — which excludes most volatile items of fresh food as well as administered prices of goods and services — rose 0.7% in April 2021 from a year ago.
“The CPI without fuel increased 1.7% in April 2021 to 113.8 as compared to 111.9 in the same month of the preceding year, ” he said.
Mohd Uzir explained CPI without fuel covers all goods and services except unleaded petrol RON95, unleaded petrol RON97 and diesel.
However, on a monthly basis, April CPI increased by 0.2% as compared to March 2021”.
“Out of 552 items covered in CPI, 366 items showed an increase in April 2021. On the contrary, 116 items declined, while 70 items were unchanged.
“Based on the performance of 552 items by category of goods and services, non-durable goods (296 items) is a category that experienced the most price increased with 230 items, 49 items decreased and 17 items were unchanged as compared to services, semi-durable goods and durable goods, ” he said.
Six states namely Terengganu (6.3%), Kelantan (5.7%), Pahang (5.6%), Kedah & Perlis (5.1%), Negeri Sembilan (5.0%) and Johor (4.9%) surpassed the national CPI rate of 4.7% in April 2021 from a year ago.
All states registered an increase in the index of food & non-alcoholic beverages.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/05/21/surge-in-oil-prices-fuel-april-inflation-to-highest-since-2018