Singapore prices climbed 0.6% in June

Costs of food and services were higher for the month.

In June 2018, CPI-All Items inflation and MAS Core Inflation rose to 0.6% and 1.7% respectively, from 0.4% and 1.5% in the previous month, largely due to higher food and services inflation.

According to an announcement, food inflation rose to 1.5% in June from 1.3% in May, as a faster pace of increase in the prices of noncooked food items more than offset a slower pace of increase in the prices of prepared meals.

Services inflation edged up to 1.7% in June from 1.6% in the previous month, largely due to a stronger pickup in holiday expenses, as well as a rise in telecommunications services fees following the year-ago decline in May.

Meanwhile, the overall cost of retail items climbed by 1.6% in June, larger than the 1.3% rise in May. “This mostly reflected a faster pace of increase in the prices of clothing & footwear, medical products, appliances & equipment, as well as a smaller year-ago decline in the prices of household durable goods,” the Department of Statistics said.

Private road transport inflation rose to 0.4% in June from 0.1% in May, due to a smaller year-ago decline in car prices and a faster pace of increase in petrol prices.

Accommodation costs dropped 3% in June, easing from the 3.2% decline in the preceding month. This reflected a more gradual decline in housing rentals.

Inflation, as measured by CPI less imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation (OOA), rose to 1.5% in June from 1.2% in the previous month, mainly on account of higher food and services inflation.