March inflation slows to 5.5% YoY

The rate of price increase in all sectors slowed down except for electricity and gas.

The inflation rate eased to 5.5% year-on-year in March, mainly driven by the decline in private transport inflation and core inflation.

In a release, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry Singapore showed that inflation in the private transport sector slowed to 8.6% YoY, compared to a 12.1% price increase rate in the previous month, due to a smaller increase in car prices and significant decline in the costs of petrol.

The core inflation, meanwhile, dropped to 5% YoY due to lower inflation for services, food, and retail and other goods.

The price increase rate for the services sector was moderated to 3.4% in March from 3.9% in February due to the slow increase in point-to-point transport fares and as other transport services costs declined.

Food inflation eased to 7.1% from .1% due to smaller increases in the prices of prepared meals and non-cooked food. Retail and other goods inflation were down to 3.3% from 3.8% due to the slow increase in the prices of personal care products and household durables, and the decline in the costs of telecommunication equipment.

Prices in the accommodation sector slightly decreased to 4.8% from 4.9% as the rise in housing rents moderated.

On the other hand, the electricity and gas prices posted a slight uptick to 12.2% from 12.1% because of the higher increase in electricity costs.

The government said the MAS Core Inflation is expected to “stay elevated in the next few months” but will continue along a broad moderating path, before slowing more discernibly in H2 2023 as imported inflation falls further and the current tightness in the domestic labour market eases.”

Headline and core inflation for the whole year are expected to average between 5.5% to 6.5%, and 3.5% to 4.5%, respectively.

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