KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Malaysia’s inflation came down to 1.9 per cent in September, with the index points recorded at 130.8 from 128.3 in the same month of the previous year, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said slower increases in Restaurants and Hotels, at 4.4 per cent, and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, at 3.9 per cent, helped drive down inflation.
Moderate growth was also recorded by Miscellaneous Goods and Services (2.5 per cent), Health (2.2 per cent), Education (2.0 per cent), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels (1.6 per cent); and Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance (1.5 per cent).
Meanwhile, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, and Recreation Services and Culture increased by 0.7 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.
He said the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages group contributed 29.5 per cent of total consumer price index (CPI) weight, recording a moderate increase of 3.9 per cent from August 2023’s 4.1 per cent.
The component of Food at home recorded an increase of 2.5 per cent compared to 2.9 per cent recorded in the previous month, mainly driven by the subgroup of Rice, Bread, and Other Cereals (4.1 per cent), while the component of Food away from home remained unchanged as in August 2023’s 5.9 per cent,
Mohd Uzir said the monthly headline inflation in September 2023 was up moderately by 0.1 per cent, mainly contributed by Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, which recorded an increase of 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.
The inflation for the third quarter of 2023 inclined 2.0 per cent to 130.7 compared to 128.1 in the same quarter of the preceding year.
Quarterly, inflation increased 0.4 per cent, the same rate recorded in the second quarter of 2023.
“The core inflation remained at 2.5 per cent, the same rate as in August 2023, but it still surpassed the overall national inflation rate (1.9 per cent).
“The highest increase was recorded by the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages group with a 5.1 per cent. This was followed by Restaurants and Hotels (4.4 per cent) and Transport (2.9 per cent),” he said in a statement today.
In comparison to inflation of other countries, September’s inflation in Malaysia of 1.9 per cent was lower than the inflation in the Philippines (6.1 per cent), the eurozone (4.3 per cent), South Korea (3.7 per cent), Vietnam (3.7 per cent), the United States (3.7 per cent), and Indonesia (2.3 per cent).
— Bernama
