Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 24): Malaysia’s inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose 0.2% in December 2018 to 121.1 from 120.9 in December 2017. The figure was lower than the consensus estimates of 0.4%.

In a statement today, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said that the increase in the overall index was due to higher price for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels(up 2%), restaurants and hotels (up 1.3%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (up 1.1%), education (up 1.1%) and food and non alcoholic beverages(0.7%).

“On a monthly basis, CPI increased 0.1 % as compared to November 2018. CPI for the period  of January to December 2018 registered an increase of 1% as compared to the same period last year,”said its chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

The December growth rate of 0.2%, which was similar to its November growth rate of 0.2%, marks  the lowest inflation growth rate the country has seen since Feb 2015, when inflation growth was at 0.1%. This was two months shy of the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) in April 2015.

Inflation growth has been muted since the GST was removed in June last year. Since then, the CPI growth rate has been benign, at below 1%. Inflation growth was at 1.8% in May 2018, shortly before the abolishment of the consumption tax.

 
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