Lower private transport costs ease inflation to 2.7% YoY in March

In February, headline inflation was at 3.4 YoY.

The rate of price increase slightly slowed to 2.7% YoY in March, data from the Department of Statistics (SingStat) showed.

In February, inflation was at 3.4%. On an MoM basis, CPI-All Items fell by 0.1%.

The smaller expansion of the headline or consumer price index (CPI)-all items inflation was due to a decline in private transport costs and lower core inflation.

In March, private transport costs fell 0.3% YoY due to the decline in car prices.

Other expenditure divisions which saw slower price movements in March were food (3.0% YoY from 3.8% YoY), services (3.9% YoY from 4.2% YoY), retail and other goods (0.7% YoY from 1.2% YoY), accommodation (3.7% YoY from 3.9% YoY), electricity and gas (4.8% YoY from 5.2% YoY).

The lower food and services inflation drove the decline in MAS core inflation, which eased to 3.1% YoY in March from 3.6% in February.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) expect core inflation to "stay on a gradual moderating trend over the rest of the year as import cost pressures continue to decline and tightness in the domestic labour market eases. "

For 2024, MTI and MAS expect headline and core inflation to average 2.5%-3.5%.

Excluding the transitory effects of the 1%-point increase in the GST rate to 9%, the agencies expect headline and core inflation to come in at 1.5%-2.5%