March inflation holds steady at 1.8%
Published on: Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Bernama
The expenditure class of cereals and cereal products increased by 2% in March, contributed by Basmati rice which increased slower at 0.4%, says the statistics department.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s inflation remained at 1.8% in March with the index recording 132.2 points versus 129.9 in the same period last year, says the statistics department (DOSM).
It said the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (3%); restaurant and accommodation services (3%); personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (2.6%) and transport (1.3%) sectors saw an increase in inflation in March.
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“However, the increase has been offset by the other main group, which recorded a slower increase, namely health at 2.1%; food and beverages (F&B) at 1.7 % and recreation, sport and culture at 1.5%,” it said when announcing the March Consumer Price Index.
Chief statistician Uzir Mahidin said the increase of 3% compared with 2.7% in February for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels was contributed by the expenditure class of water supply, which increased to 31.4% in March compared to February’s 28.8%.
“Kedah has increased the water tariff rates for domestic category users from March compared to other states that have implemented the new tariff rates in February,” he said.
Uzir said the F&B group, which contributes 29.8% of the total CPI weight, recorded a slower increase of 1.7% in March compared to 1.9% in February.
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“The main subgroup of food at home increased to 0.3% in March (February: 0.5%). Meanwhile, the main subgroup of food away from home increased by 3.5%, the same rate as registered in February.
“The expenditure class of cereals and cereal products increased by 2% in March (February: 2.5%).
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“This was contributed by Basmati rice which increased slower at 0.4% as compared with 1% in February,” he said.
Uzir also said rice flour rose to 9.6% from 8.8% in February.
He said the inflation for the expenditure class of milk, other dairy products and eggs registered a slower increase of 1.4% in March from 2.3% in the previous month.
“The slower increase was recorded by the expenditure of fresh milk 2.4% versus 2.5% in February,” he said.
DOSM said the inflation for the expenditure class of oil and fats remained in the negative range at -0.1% in March (February: -0.2%).
The inflation for the expenditure class of meat increased slower to 0.2% in March (February: 0.5%).
It said chicken, the largest component, comprising 32.6% of the expenditure class of meat, recorded a decline of -1.1% (February: -0.7%).
“The March average price of standard chicken in Malaysia was RM10.28 per kg compared with RM10.40 per kg in March 2023 (February: RM10.29),” it said.
It said there was increase in inflation for restaurant and accommodation services to 3% (February: 2.9%) due to the increase in beverage preparation services, 3.7% (February: 3.4%).
Other than that, inflation for transport increased by 1.3% in March against 1.2% in February.
The increase was due to the main subgroup of operation of personal transport equipment which increased to 1.4% in March (February: 1.3%).
The average price of unleaded petrol RON97 in March was RM3.47 per litre as against RM3.35 per litre in March 2023 (February: RM3.47).
“With regards to inflation at the state level, most of the states recorded increases below the national inflation level of 1.8%.
“However, five states recorded increases above the national inflation level, namely Penang (3%), Sarawak (2.9%), Pahang (2.1%), Selangor (2.1%) and Perlis (1.9%),” said Uzir.
All states registered an increase in the inflation of F&B, with Selangor recording the highest increase at 3.2%, followed by Penang (2.8%), Putrajaya (2.6%), Sarawak (2.1%), Perlis (2.1%) and Labuan (2%).
Other states showed an increase below the national inflation of F&B of 1.7% in March.
Overall, monthly inflation recorded a marginal increase of 0.1% versus 0.5% recorded in February.
Inflation for the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 recorded an incline of 1.7% (Q4 2023: 1.6%).
For quarterly comparison, Malaysia’s inflation increased by 0.7% (Q4 2023: 0.2%).
Uzir said core inflation increased slower at 1.7% as compared to 1.8% in February.
He said the increase was due to the F&B and restaurant and accommodation services, both of which recorded increases of 3% in March.
“Compared with inflation in other selected countries, inflation in Malaysia (1.8%) was lower than in Vietnam (4%), the Philippines (3.7%), US (3.5%), South Korea (3.1%) and Indonesia (3.1%).
“However, the rate is higher than China (0.1%) and Thailand (-0.5%),” he said.
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