Singapore's headline inflation up for the fourth consecutive month

It accelerated to 0.7% in February.

According to OCBC, headline CPI was positive for the fourth consecutive month and accelerated from 0.6% year-on-year (+0.2% mom nsa) in January to 0.7% yoy (0.0% mom nsa) in February. The flat on-month print was the lowest since October 2016.

Meanwhile, MAS core inflation also tapered more than expected from 1.5% yoy in January to 1.2% yoy in February, attributable to lower services and food inflation.

Here’s more from OCBC:

Looking forward, MTI and MAS tips imported inflation to rise modestly on the back of a turnaround in global commodity markets, especially oil prices, but domestic price pressures should remain contained and the local labour market has softened.

Hence the pass-through to consumer prices should remain muted in the near-term. Our base case scenario remains that inflationary pressures remain within policymakers’ comfort range, and there is no immediate urgency to revert to a modest appreciation bias for now.