SINGAPORE: Consumer prices in Singapore rose in February for the third consecutive month, reflecting the increase in the price of private road transport cost.
The All-Items Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 0.7 percent last month, following a 0.6 percent rise in January, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in a joint statement on Thursday (March 23).
Private road transport cost increased by 7.1 percent, faster than the 4.1 percent rise in the previous month due to the relatively low base in February last year.
Services inflation slowed to 1.5 percent in February from 1.9 percent a month earlier, largely because of a fall in air fares and a more modest increase in holiday expenses.
Food inflation moderated to 1.3 percent from 1.9 percent in January, due to the smaller rise in non-cooked food prices after Chinese New Year as well as the high base last year.
Accommodation cost fell by 4.0 percent in February, extending the 3.9 percent decline in the previous month, amid continuous softness in the housing rental market.
MAS core inflation – which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport – was 1.2 percent in February, down from the 1.5 percent in January, owing to lower services and food inflation.
Headline CPI had been dragged down over the past two years by lower global oil prices, only rising for the first time in two years in December 2016.
The MAS and MTI kept their 2017 forecast for core CPI at 1 to 2 percent, compared with 0.9 percent in 2016. Similarly, the forecast for headline CPI remains at 0.5 to 1.5 percent this year.
