KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 17): Malaysia's consumer price index in September rose 2.6 percent from a year earlier, Statistics Department data showed on Friday.

This marks the first month that annual inflation was below 3 percent since November 2013, when prices for goods and transportation were rising following a fuel-price hike two months earlier.
    
The 2.6 percent September pace matched the expectation in a Reuters poll. In August, the annual inflation rate was 3.3 percent.
    
Inflation had hovered above 3 percent since the end of 2013, reaching a high of 3.5 percent this February and March.
    
Economists expect inflation to edge above 3 percent again in October, following the government's decision this month to increase fuel prices by reducing its subsidy spending.
    
In Malaysia's 2014/2015 economic report, the government forecast inflation to come in at 3.3 percent this year but said it would likely increase to 4.0-5.0
percent in 2015.
         

    
                   MALAYSIA CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (base 2010)              
 
 
                          PERCENTAGE CHANGE                     
          Sept  Aug   July  June  May   Apr  Mar  Feb   Jan  Dec  Nov  Oct
 
 yr/yr    2.6   3.3   3.2   3.3   3.2   3.4  3.5  3.5   3.4  3.2  2.9  2.8
 
 mth/mth  0.2   0.2   0.1   0.2   0.1   0.0  0.1  0.3   0.6  0.3  0.3  0.4
 
 
      
                         September 2014
                  (percentage change year-on-year)       
  Food, non-alcoholic beverages                   3.2
 
  Alcoholic beverages, tobacco                   14.8
  Clothing, footwear                             -0.3
  Housing, water, electricity, fuels              3.4
  Furnishings, household equipment                0.9
 
  Health                                          3.4
  Transport                                       0.5
 
  Communication                                  -0.8
  Recreation services, culture                    1.9
 
  Education                                       2.4
  Restaurants, hotels                             4.8
  Miscellaneous goods/services                    0.7
 
 
   Weightings/contribution to the September 2014 CPI Components    
   Components                         Weightings     Contribution(pct)
 
 Food, non-alcoholic beverages         30.3               40.3
 Alcoholic beverages                    2.2               12.9
 Clothing, footwear                     3.4               -0.5
 Housing, water, electricity, fuels    22.6               30.1
 Furnishings, household equipment       4.1                1.5
 Health                                 1.3                1.8
 Transport                             14.9                2.9
 Communication                          5.7               -1.8
 Recreation services, culture           4.6                3.3
 Education                              1.4                1.4
 Restaurants, hotels                    3.2                6.4
 Miscellaneous goods/services           6.3                1.7