‘INFLATION SET TO STAY LOW THIS YEAR’
Producer price index falls to -5.5pc in May amid 52.7pc slump in mining index
THE latest Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the costs of goods at the factory gate, suggests that Malaysia’s inflationary pressures will remain low throughout the year, said MIDF Research.
The Statistics Department announced yesterday the PPI fell to -5.5 per cent year-on-year in May, the third consecutive month that manufacturers had seen prices for their goods decline.
It said the overall decrease was largely due to the 52.7 per cent decline in the mining index amid a slump in global commodity prices.
In a report yesterday, MIDF Research pointed to the uptrend in the PPI for food manufacturing, computer, electronic and optical products in May.
“The input prices of manufacturing, which made up 81 per cent of the total PPI, fell marginally by 0.8 per cent yearon-year compared with the 0.1 per cent increase in the preceding month.”
It said this was mainly dragged down by declining prices of coke and refined petroleum products, rubber and plastic products and machinery and equipment, among others.
“It was also influenced by prices of manufacturing of food products and computer, electronic and optical products which increased at a softer pace of 2.9 and 2.7 per cent year-onyear, respectively.”