SINGAPORE: Singapore's inflation
rate accelerated in April to 5.4 per cent.
The year-on-year increase in the consumer price index (CPI) is up from an increase of 5.2 per cent in March, figures from the Department of Statistics show.
Higher accommodation costs were the major contributor to the April increase.
Private road transport costs also continued to climb because of elevated COE prices, although they rose at a slower pace than in March.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) core inflation rate, which excludes accommodation and private road transport, fell in April to 2.7 per cent from 2.9 per cent the previous month. It attributed the decline to lower services and food inflation.
MAS reiterated its forecast for inflation to "remain elevated over the next few months, before easing gradually" in the second half of 2012.
The central bank forecasts CPI inflation at 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent for the year as a whole, and core inflation in the range of 2.5 per cent to 3.0 per cent.
The MAS said accommodation costs, which include imputed rentals on owner-occupied homes, will remain the biggest contributor to consumer inflation this year, "as leasing contracts continue to be renewed at rentals that are considerably higher than those under existing contracts, especially in the HDB segment".
"Car prices could also increase if CEO premiums rise further in response to tight CEO supply," the MAS statement said.
"In addition, wages and other costs will likely continue to pass through to consumer prices, albeit at a more moderate pace than that during early this year."
- CNA/wm
The year-on-year increase in the consumer price index (CPI) is up from an increase of 5.2 per cent in March, figures from the Department of Statistics show.
Higher accommodation costs were the major contributor to the April increase.
Private road transport costs also continued to climb because of elevated COE prices, although they rose at a slower pace than in March.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) core inflation rate, which excludes accommodation and private road transport, fell in April to 2.7 per cent from 2.9 per cent the previous month. It attributed the decline to lower services and food inflation.
MAS reiterated its forecast for inflation to "remain elevated over the next few months, before easing gradually" in the second half of 2012.
The central bank forecasts CPI inflation at 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent for the year as a whole, and core inflation in the range of 2.5 per cent to 3.0 per cent.
The MAS said accommodation costs, which include imputed rentals on owner-occupied homes, will remain the biggest contributor to consumer inflation this year, "as leasing contracts continue to be renewed at rentals that are considerably higher than those under existing contracts, especially in the HDB segment".
"Car prices could also increase if CEO premiums rise further in response to tight CEO supply," the MAS statement said.
"In addition, wages and other costs will likely continue to pass through to consumer prices, albeit at a more moderate pace than that during early this year."
- CNA/wm
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