2017.05.2301:30:00UTC+00Singapore Inflation Eases More Than Expected In April

Singapore's consumer price inflation eased at a faster-than-expected pace in April, figures from the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed Tuesday.

The consumer price index rose 0.4 percent year-over-year in April, slower than the 0.7 percent increase in March. Economists had expected the inflation to ease to 0.5 percent.

Services inflation edged up to 1.7 percent in April from 1.6 percent in the prior month. Similarly, private road transport inflation climbed to 7.0 percent from 6.9 percent, owing to the faster pace of increase in car and petrol prices.

At the same time, food inflation held steady at 1.3 percent in April.

Cost of electricity and gas grew notably by 18.7 percent annually in April, while accommodation costs declined by 6.7 percent.

MAS core inflation that excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, accelerated to 1.7 percent in April from 1.2 percent in March.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices dropped 0.3 percent in April, after remaining flat in the preceding month.

For 2017, MAS Core Inflation is expected to average 1-2 percent, compared with 0.9 percent in 2016, while CPI-All Items inflation is projected to rise to 0.5-1.5 percent from -0.5 percent last year.

The projected pickup in inflation can be attributed to the positive contribution of energy-related components and the impact of administrative price increases, rather than generalised demand-induced price pressures.