KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 21): Malaysia’s consumer-price index (CPI), the main inflation gauge, rose 1.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) in August. Inflation in July climbed 1.1% from a year ago.

In a statement today, the Department of Statistics said the major drivers for August inflation were Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco, which rose by 19.7%; Recreation Services & Culture (3.6%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (3.5%); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (2.5%); Health (2.2%); and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (2.1%).

These increases were offset by decrease in prices of Transport group, which declined by 6.7%; Communication (2.4%) and Clothing & Footwear (0.6%).

The index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages, which constituted 30.2% of overall CPI weight, rose by 3.5% y-o-y in August this year.

The increase was led by increases in four food sub-groups' index, namely Meat (6.9%); Fish & Seafood (5.2%); Fruits (3.9%) and Vegetables (3.1%).

Meanwhile, the index for Non-Food, which constituted the remaining 69.8% of overall CPI weight, recorded an increase of 0.6%.

Among the Malaysian states, five of them recorded higher increases above the national level index for August 2016, compared with the same month in 2015.

The five states were Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (2.5%); Johor (1.9%); Pulau Pinang (1.7%); Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (1.6%) and Melaka (1.6%). Meanwhile, the remaining states recorded an increase at par or lower than the national level index.

Core inflation, which excludes most volatile items of fresh food, as well as administered prices of goods and services, rose 2.2% in August 2016, from a year ago.

Among the major groups which contributed to a higher core rate were price increases for Transport (4.7%); Recreation Services & Culture (3.6%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (2.5%); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (2.5%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (2.4%).

CPI for the cumulative period of January to August this year, registered an increase of 2.3%, as compared with the same period last year.

The increase was led by those high expenditure percentages, namely 4.2% growth in Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages; and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels, which grew 2.6%.

Other increases were Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (21.4%); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (3.5%); Restaurants & Hotels (3.2%); Health (3.0%) and Furnishing, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (2.9%).

The 4.2% increase in Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages index was due to increases for Food At Home (4.5%); Food Away From Home (4%) and Coffee, Tea, Cocoa & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (1.6%).

Among the subgroups of Food At Home which showed significant increases during this period, were Vegetables (8.8%); Fish & Seafood (7.1%); Fruits (5.8%) and Meat (3.7%).

On a monthly basis, CPI for August 2016 increased 0.4% to 115.6, from 115.1. Of the twelve major groups, seven recorded increases, two registered a decline, while three remained unchanged.

Among the main groups that recorded increases were Recreation Services & Culture (2.1%); Transport (0.8%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (0.4%); Health (0.3%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (0.2%) and Restaurants & Hotel (0.2%).

The increase of 0.2% in the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages in August 2016 compared with the previous month, was due to an increase in the index for Food Away From Home (0.6%); Coffee, Tea, Cocoa & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (0.3%) and Food At Home by 0.1%.

Among the index of food items which recorded notable increases in August 2016 compared with the previous month, were Tomatoes (6.8%); Spinach (5.2%); Choy Sam (4.1%); Watermelon (3.5%); Hen's Egg (3.1%); Indian Mackerel (Fish) (0.8%) and Prawn (0.6%).

Meanwhile, decreases were registered in the index of some food items, such as Round Cabbage (7.5%); Carrot (6.8%); Red Chillies (5.5%); Cucumber (4.4%), Long Bean (2.8%) and Cuttlefish (2.4%).