Inflation picks up to 6.6% in January

It came in higher due to the increase in services inflation, amongst others.

The rate of price increase picked up to 6.6% in January 2023, data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) showed. In December 2022, inflation was at 6.5%.

The expansion of the headline or consumer price index (CPI)-all items inflation was on the back of higher inflation for services (4.2% from 3.7%), food (8.1% from 7.5%), accommodation (5.0% from 4.7%) and retail & other goods (3.3% from 2.8%)

On the other hand, price movements slowed down for electricity and gas (11.5% from 16.5%) and private transport (14.3% from 15.5%). 

The higher inflation for services, food and retail & other goods, as well as the GST rate hike, pushed the MAS core inflation up to 5.5% YoY in January from 5.1% in December 2022. 

For 2023, MAS and MTI expect headline inflation and core inflation to average 5.5%–6.5% and 3.5%–4.5%, respectively.