SINGAPORE: Singapore’s consumer prices rose in line with expectations in September as higher services inflation was offset by weaker increases in private transport prices and falling accommodation costs. The consumer price index rose 0.4% compared with a year ago in September, matching the median estimate from a poll of eight economists by The Wall Street Journal. It rose at the same pace as in August. Housing and utilities costs, which make 26.3% of the CPI, fell 2.3% from a year ago in September, with accommodation costs still in a steep decline. The cost of transportation, which has an index weighting of 15.8%, increased 1.1% in September. Food prices, which have a 21.7% weighting in the index, rose 1.2% from a year ago in September, the same as in the previous month, the data showed.
The central bank’s core inflation measure, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, edged higher to 1.5% in September, compared with 1.4% in August, due to an increase in services inflation. Imported inflation is likely to rise mildly as global demand improves, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the government said in a statement. Global oil prices are expected to rise slightly in 2018 after staying in a narrow range in the first nine months of this year. “Overall, cost pressures in the economy should remain relatively restrained,” according to the statement. Although labor market conditions have improved recently, the gradual absorption of previously accumulated slack will temper wage pressures, it added.
