Singapore inflation slips to 4%

Thanks to moderate increases in accommodation, transport and oil costs.

In a release by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, CPI-All Items inflation eased to 4.0% in July from 5.3% in June 2012. This reflected more moderate increases in the cost of accommodation, private road transport and oil-related items.

Here's more from MTI:

On a y-o-y basis, accommodation cost inflation slowed from 10.8% in June to 7.8% in July. This was largely due to the timing of the disbursements of rebates for service & conservancy charges (S&CC) to HDB households.

The increase in imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation (OOA) also slowed from 9.8% in June to 9.0% in July, although it continued to contribute a considerable 1.5% points to overall inflation.

Private road transport cost added 0.8% point to CPI-All Items inflation, lower than the 1.3% points in June. The increase in car prices moderated slightly as the y-o-y rise in COE premiums eased in June.2 At the same time, petrol pump prices fell by 1.9% y-o-y in July.

Despite the moderation in the pace of increase, accommodation and private road transport costs continued to account for around 60% of CPI-All Items inflation in July.

Meanwhile, the y-o-y increase in electricity tariffs slowed from 12.5% in June to 2.9% in July, while food and services inflation remained stable at 2.3% and 2.8% respectively.

CPI less imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation (CPI-ex OOA) rose at a slower pace of 3.0%
Inflation as measured by CPI less imputed rentals on OOA (CPI-ex OOA) declined to 3.0% in July from 4.4% in June, reflecting the effects of the S&CC rebates and more moderate increases in the cost of private road transport and oil-related items.