Singapore’s consumer prices decreased at a softer rate in July, defying expectations for a worsening, data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry revealed on Monday.
The consumer price index fell 0.4 percent year-on-year in July, following a 0.5 percent decrease in June. Economists had expected a bigger 0.7 percent decline.
This fall in the CPI was largely due to a smaller decline in private transport costs.
MAS core CPI, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, fell 0.4 percent annually in July, following a 0.2 percent decrease in the preceding month.
The latest decline can be attributed to higher food inflation that offset a steeper drop in the cost of services, as well as smaller decline in the costs of retail & other goods and electricity & gas.
The statistical office expects external sources of inflation to remain benign in the coming quarters, amid weak global demand condition. Oil prices would remain low for a long period, while international food prices declined.
Supply chain disruptions caused by Covid-19 could continue to increase the prices on imported food prices.
Both MAS Core Inflation and CPI-All Items inflation are forecast to average between -1 percent and 0 percent in 2020, the statistical office and MAS said.
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