KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 24): Malaysia's inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), rose 1.1% in July from a year earlier mainly on liquor, tobacco, food and non-alcoholic drink prices.

In a statement today, the Statistics Department said liquor and tobacco prices rose 19.9% while prices for food and non-alcoholic drinks increased 3.8%.

"In addition, the overall index is also influenced by the decrease in prices of transport group by 9.9%, communication (-2.3%) and clothing & footwear (-0.6%)," the department said.

Between January and July, the CPI climbed 2.4% from a year earlier, according to the department. In monthly terms, July CPI rose 0.3% from the preceding month.

In June, the CPI increased 1.6% from a year earlier, according to the department.