KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s annual inflation rate in August likely increased to 1.3 percent, a Reuters poll showed, slightly faster than the previous month’s pace.
The pace of inflation probably increased because of higher food prices, though transport costs remained low despite a slight hike in fuel prices, economists said. In July, the consumer price index rose 1.1 percent from a year earlier, the fifth consecutive month in which the inflation rate slowed.
Annual inflation reached a seven-year peak of 4.2 percent in February, but has since moderated as the effects of a goods and services tax imposed in April 2015 fade.
In July, Malaysia’s central bank cut its inflation projection for the year to 2-3 percent from 2.5-3.5 percent.
