Inflation eases to 4.5% in June

MTI attributed the moderation to lower food and services inflation.

The rate of price increase eased to 4.5% in May 2023, data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) showed.

In May 2023, inflation was at 5.1%.

The moderation of the headline or consumer price index (CPI)-all items inflation was due to the lower food (5.9% YoY from 6.8% YoY) and services (3.6% YoY from 3.9% YoY) inflation.

Other expenditure divisions which saw a decline in the rate of price increase were private transport (5.8% YoY from 7.2% YoY), accommodation (4.5% YoY from 4.7% YoY), retail and other goods (2.7% YoY from 2.8% YoY), and electricity and gas (3.1% YoY from 3.3% YoY)
The price developments across the expenditure divisions pushed the MAS core inflation down to 4.2% YoY in June.

For 2023, MAS and MTI expect headline inflation and core inflation to average 4.5-5.5% and 3.5–4.5%, respectively.