Malaysia\u2019s headline inflation showed a marginal decline in August, with the consumer price index (CPI) growth easing to 1.9% year-on-year (y-o-y), down from 2% y-o-y observed from May to July. This latest figure falls below the 2% increase forecasted in a Reuters survey of economists, indicating a moderate inflationary environment.<\/p>\n
According to MIDF Research, the subdued CPI rise suggests that recent policy changes, including subsidy re-targeting, tariff hikes, and increases in service tax rates, have not triggered significant price surges. However, the research firm anticipates that these policy adjustments will eventually contribute to a gradual increase in inflation, particularly in the non-food sector.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of 2024 (4Q24), MIDF predicts further subsidy rationalization, including targeted RON95 petrol subsidies, which may exert additional inflationary pressure. Should the government opt for a gradual adjustment in petrol prices based on a managed float mechanism, the overall inflation could see incremental increases.<\/p>\n
MIDF Research has maintained its 2024 headline CPI growth projection at 2.3%, supported by the moderate inflation rate of 1.8% recorded for the first eight months of the year. In comparison, last year\u2019s CPI increase was recorded at 2.5%.<\/p>\n
August\u2019s inflation was primarily driven by rises in several key sectors. Restaurant and accommodation services saw an increase of 3.2%, while personal care and miscellaneous goods also rose by 3.2%. Other contributing factors included housing and utility costs, which grew by 3.1%, and recreation, sports, and culture, which increased by 2%. Notably, the clothing and footwear category experienced a slight decline, remaining at -0.2%.<\/p>\n
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin noted that inflation for restaurant and accommodation services had eased from 3.4% in July to 3.2% in August, reflecting slower increases in beverage preparation services. The food and beverage group, accounting for 29.8% of the CPI weight, maintained a steady increase of 1.6% in August, consistent with the previous month.<\/p>\n
In the transport sector, inflation rose to 1.3% in August, up from 1.2% in July, largely due to rising costs in personal transport operations. The average price of diesel in Peninsular Malaysia reached RM3.27 per litre, significantly higher than RM2.15 per litre a year ago.<\/p>\n
When compared internationally, Malaysia\u2019s August inflation rate of 1.9% remains lower than that of Indonesia (2.1%), Vietnam (3.5%), and the Philippines (3.3%), but higher than rates in China (0.6%) and Thailand (0.4%). Overall, the latest CPI figures suggest a carefully managed inflation landscape as Malaysia navigates its economic policies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MIDF Research has maintained its 2024 headline CPI growth projection at 2.3%, supported by the moderate inflation rate of 1.8% recorded for the first eight months of the year. In comparison, last year\u2019s CPI increase was recorded at 2.5%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":413,"featured_media":38256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4797,10448,5771,22203,5191,19570,18551,5398,20447,661,305,22247],"class_list":["post-38253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-malaysia","tag-cip","tag-consumer-inflation","tag-consumer-price-index","tag-consumer-price-index-cpi","tag-core-consumer-price-index","tag-core-inflation","tag-cost-of-living","tag-economic-policy","tag-food-inflation","tag-inflation","tag-malaysia","tag-midf"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/413"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38257,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38253\/revisions\/38257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}