Chart of the Day: Headline inflation posts biggest slide 30 years as one-off rebates bite

But core inflation hit its highest level in 14 months.

Singapore entered its 19th month of negative inflation in May, with the consumer price index down 1.6% on a year-on-year basis. According to UOB, this marks the steepest decline in headline inflation since August 1986.

The slide was brought about by a round of Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates that was disbursed in May, but not in the same month last year. As a result, accommodation costs fell 6% year-on-year as the cost of housing and maintenance repairs declined sharply.

This chart from Maybank Kim Eng shows a divergence between the headline & core inflation. While headline inflation continued to slide, core inflation rose 1.0%, marking its highest level in 14 months.