Singapore slipped into fifth month of deflation in March

Inflation registered at -0.3%.

Consumer prices in Singapore fell for the fifth consecutive month in March, data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed.

CPI-All Items inflation registered at -0.3% in March, similar to that in February. While food inflation eased and accommodation cost fell more steeply, the decline in private road transport cost was more modest.

According to UOB, this would be the longest stretch of so-called deflation since the last deflationary period” back in June to December 2009, when consumer prices fell from both the lack of consumer demand as well as corporate/business price-cutting in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

The reasons for the continuation of the deflationary trend in March remained the same. Accommodation and private road transport costs continued their respective eighth and ninth consecutive month of declines as a result of government’s cooling measures. Additionally, healthcare costs contracted for the first time since Jan 2000 as a result of the subsidies from the Pioneer Generation scheme that started in September 2014.