June CPI up 1.6% from year before

PETALING JAYA: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June 2016 increased by 1.6% to 114.8 compared with 113.0 in the same month last year, according to the Statistics Department.
Among the major groups that recorded increases were alcoholic beverages & tobacco (up 21.9%); food & non-alcoholic beverages (4.2%); housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (2.4%); miscellaneous goods & services (2.3%); restaurants & hotels (2.2%) and education (2.1%).
In addition, the overall index was influenced by price decreases in transport (down 8.5%); communication (2.2%) and clothing & footwear (0.6%).
The CPI for January to June 2016 registered an increase of 2.7% compared to the same period last year.
When compared with the previous month, the CPI for June 2016 increased 0.2% to 114.8 from 114.6. Based on seasonally adjusted terms, the CPI for June 2016 increased by 0.2% compared with May 2016.
Core inflation, which excludes most volatile items of fresh food, as well as administered prices of goods and services rose 2.1% in June 2016 compared to the same period of the previous year.
Meanwhile, MIDF Research said it is maintaining its inflation 2016 forecast at 2.6%. It forecast inflation to come in at 1.1% in July.