Higher rentals push up inflation to 5.4% in April

The rise in that single category more than offset the inflation declines in private road transport cost, services and food.

What drove up rentals and moderated the rest of the other categories?

Here's more from Ministry of Trade and Industry:

Singapore’s CPI-All Items inflation came in higher at 5.4% y-o-y in April 2012. CPI-All Items inflation rose to 5.4% in April from 5.2% in March 2012. The increase primarily reflected the higher contribution from accommodation cost, which added 2.5% points to CPI-All Items inflation in April, up from 2.0% points in the preceding month.

Imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation (OOA) accounted for most of this, contributing 1.7% points to the overall inflation figure. There was also an increase in the cost of minor repairs & maintenance, mainly due to the low base in April 2011 when the government had disbursed a large quantum of rebates for service & conservancy charges (S&CC) for HDB households.

Prices of other major categories in the CPI rose more moderately. The increase in private road transport cost eased from the 9.6% y-o-y in March, but remained firm at 8.2% in April given the elevated COE premiums. Together, private road transport and accommodation costs accounted for more than two-thirds of CPI-All Items inflation in April.

Meanwhile, services and food inflation slowed slightly from 3.0% and 2.7% in March to 2.8% and 2.4% in
April respectively.

CPI less imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation (OOA) rose by 4.4%. Reflecting the disbursement of S&CC rebates in the same period a year ago, inflation as measured by CPI less imputed rentals on OOA (CPI-ex OOA) was higher at 4.4% compared to 4.1% in the preceding month.

MAS Core Inflation eased to 2.7% in April. Excluding the costs of accommodation and private road transport, MAS Core Inflation edged down from 2.9% in March to 2.7% in April, led by lower services and food inflation.