Inflation remains at 1.5 per cent in January

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s headline inflation remained at 1.5 per cent in January 2024 with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 131.4 points against 129.5 a year earlier, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the rise in inflation was driven by the lower increases in restaurant and accommodation services (3.2 per cent); personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (2.5 per cent); health (2.4 per cent); food and beverages (2.0 per cent) and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (2.0 per cent).

“Nevertheless, the transport group increased slower (0.7 per cent) compared to December 2023 (0.3 per cent),” he said in a statement.

DOSM said monthly inflation continued to show an increase of 0.2 per cent with housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; food and beverages and health posting monthly increases of 0.4 per cent, 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, core inflation rose slower at 1.8 per cent versus December 2023’s 1.9 per cent. It still surpassed the overall national inflation rate of 1.5 per cent due to restaurant and accommodation services and the food and beverages sector, which recorded moderate rises of 3.2 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively, in January 2024.

Malaysia’s 1.5 per cent inflation rate was lower than the United States (3.1 per cent), the Philippines (2.8 per cent), South Korea (2.8 per cent), eurozone (2.8 per cent) and Indonesia (2.6 per cent). It was nevertheless higher than Thailand (-1.1 per cent) and China (-0.8 per cent). — Bernama