KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew 2.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in July 2021 to 122.5, marking its sixth consecutive month in positive territory due to the low base effect.
The inflation measure rose from 119.9 in the same month last year, but the growth was slower compared with the 3.4 per cent y-o-y increase in June 2021, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement today.
Among the reasons it cited for the moderate increase was the monthly electricity bill discount given to domestic consumers for a three-month period starting July 1 under the National People’s Well-Being and Economic Recovery Package (Pemulih).
“Nevertheless, the CPI remained in the positive territory as there were increases of the petrol and diesel prices in July 2021 compared to a year ago,” DOSM said.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth was mainly driven by a double-digit increase of 11.6 per cent in the transport group due to the setting of the RON95 petrol ceiling price at RM2.05 per litre since March, compared with the average price of RM1.69 in July 2020.
“This was followed by furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (1.7 per cent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.3 per cent) and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.7 per cent),” he said.
For the first seven months of 2021, the CPI increased 2.3 per cent y-oy, DOSM said.
On the core index, which covers all goods and services except volatile items of fresh food as well as administered prices, Mohd Uzir said it rose 0.7 per cent y-o-y in July 2021.
He said among the major groups which influenced the increase were furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (1.7 per cent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.1 per cent), transport (1.0 per cent), restaurants and hotels (0.7 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.6 per cent), recreation services and culture (0.6 per cent), health (0.4 per cent), education (0.1 per cent) and miscellaneous goods and services (0.1 per cent).
According to DOSM, the CPI without fuel edged up 0.8 per cent y-o-y in July 2021 to 113.2 versus 112.3 in the same month last year.
The CPI without fuel covers all goods and services, except unleaded petrol RON95, unleaded petrol RON97 and diesel.
Five states, namely Terengganu (2.8 per cent), Pahang (2.5 per cent), Selangor and Putrajaya (2.4 per cent), Kelantan (2.4 per cent) and Sarawak (2.3 per cent), surpassed the national CPI rate of 2.2 per cent in July 2021 compared to the same month last year.
All states witnessed an increase in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages, it said.
“The highest increase was recorded by Selangor and Putrajaya (2.0 per cent). Meanwhile, other states showed an increase below the national index of food and non-alcoholic beverages rate of 1.3 per cent in July 2021 compared to July 2020,” it said.
— Bernama
