Singapore deflation deepens with 0.5% contraction in April

This is the 18th straight month of negative inflation.

Singapore’s consumer price index entered its 18th consecutive month of contraction in April. The headline CPI slipped 0.5% last month, a slower pace of decline compared to the drop of 1.0% in March.

According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), this was largely due to the low base associated with the disbursement of Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates in April last year.

Accommodation cost decreased by a more moderate 0.9%, compared to the 3.2% drop in the previous month. Although rents fell at a faster pace, the cost of housing maintenance & repairs rose on a year-on-year basis, as S&CC rebates were disbursed to households in April 2015..

Private road transport cost fell by 7.1%, faster than the 5.9% decline a month earlier. This was mainly due to a larger decline in car prices amid weaker Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums, as well as a bigger drop in petrol pump prices.

Meanwhile, MAS Core Inflation rose by 0.3% in April, compared to a contraction of 0.4% in March.

This was on account of the larger increase in housing maintenance & repair costs given the low base associated with the disbursement of the S&CC rebates in April last year.