Malaysia’s Jan CPI up 1.6% y-o-y, fastest since May 2018

• Feb 21, 2020

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia’s January consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.6 per cent from a year earlier, the fastest pace in nearly two years, government data showed on Friday.

The annual inflation rate was in line with the pace forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and the fastest since May 2018 when the index increased 1.8 per cent. In December, the rate was 1 per cent.

Inflation in January was driven by a rise in the transport sector, which was up 3.9 per cent annually due to higher fuel pump prices, data from the Statistics Department showed.

Prices were also up in all 12 sectors tracked by the index except for the clothing sector, which fell 1.2 per cent, the data showed.

Malaysia’s central bank said in February headline inflation is expected to remain modest in 2020, though higher than the previous year.

REUTERS