Chart of the Day: Transport cost eases further to 0.2% in October

It has posted a small drop since August.

The private road transport cost was unchanged YoY, falling 0.4% in September as domestic retail petrol prices start to pick up. According to Maybank KimEng, the smaller drop in transport cost began in August with the expiry of the one-year road tax rebate for petrol vehicles that was introduced to offset the hike in petrol duties on 23 Feb 2015.

"Expect the trend to continue into 2017. The pick up in domestic fuel prices also put upward pressure on other oil related items such as electricity, LPG, gas as well as fuels and lubricants," the research firm said.

The fall in transport cost eased further to -0.2% YoY in October which is the highest level since Aug 2015, as the private road transport” remain unchanged.

However, transport continues to weigh on headline inflation rate, which eased further to -0.1% YoY in the said month.