KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — The Consumer Price Index (CPI) cooled to 2 per cent in July, the lowest for the year, with index points recorded at 130.5 against 127.9 in July 2022, said the Statistics Department.
Inflation, which came in at 2.4 per cent year-on-year in June, has shown a moderating trend since January, when it stood at 3.7 per cent.
In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the low inflation rate was driven by the slower increase in restaurants and hotels at 5 per cent against 5.4 per cent in June, and food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.4 per cent), followed by miscellaneous goods and services (2.6 per cent), while both health and education groups increased by 2 per cent each.
He said the food and non-alcoholic beverages group, which contributed 29.5 per cent of total CPI weight, recorded a moderate increase of 4.4 per cent.
“The component of food at home recorded a slower increase for five consecutive months to 3 per cent in July 2023 as compared with 3.2 per cent recorded in the previous month.
“The increase in the component of food at home was mainly driven by the subgroup of meat (5.5 per cent ); rice, bread and other cereals (4.5 per cent); milk, cheese and eggs (4.3 per cent) and sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery (3.5 per cent),” he said.
Uzir said the subgroup of meat, which consists of chicken, beef, pork, lamb, buffalo and duck, registered an increase of 5.5 per cent in July.
He said chicken was the largest component in the subgroup of meat, increasing to 4.3 per cent as against 2.6 per cent in June.
Uzir said nine states recorded increases below the national inflation level of 2 per cent, with Labuan recording the lowest increase of 1.1 per cent in July.
However, six states recorded increases above the national inflation level, namely Pahang (2.6 per cent), Sarawak (2.6 per cent), Putrajaya (2.6 per cent), Perak (2.4 per cent), Selangor (2.4 per cent) and Melaka (2.2 per cent).
— Bernama
