Singapore's inflation jumped to 1.8% in June

Blame it on rising fuel prices.

According to a joint release by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, CPI-All Items inflation rose to 1.8% in June compared to 1.6% in May, mainly due to petrol pump prices which increased with the recent pick-up in global oil prices. Some services costs also registered slightly stronger gains in June.

Petrol pump prices increased after three consecutive months of price correction, although electricity tariffs remained 7.2% lower compared to a year earlier.
Overall, the price of oil-related items fell by 1.0% in June, compared to a larger decline of 4.4% in May.

Services inflation was higher at 2.7% in June compared with 2.5% in May, mainly on account of costlier medical insurance and holiday travel.

Food inflation was stable at 2.0%. Although the cost of prepared meals rose at a slightly stronger pace, the price increase for non-cooked food was more modest.

Private road transport cost fell by a more moderate 2.1% in June, compared with the 3.7% decline in the previous month.

This reflected the smaller drop in COE premiums in May on a y-o-y basis, as the market continued to adjust to the various motor vehicle-related policy measures introduced since February.

Accommodation cost inflation was 4.8% in June, down from 5.1% in May, as imputed rentals on owneroccupied accommodation increased more gradually.

Nevertheless, imputed rentals continued to contribute a significant 0.9% point to overall inflation in June. CPI less imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation (CPI-ex OOA) rose at a faster pace of 1.1%.

Inflation as measured by CPI less imputed rentals on OOA (CPI-ex OOA) picked up to 1.1% in June from 0.8% a month earlier, mainly due to the rise in pump prices and higher services inflation.

The lower CPI-ex OOA inflation, compared to CPI-All Items inflation, reflects the strong increase in imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation, which does not impact the actual cash expenditures of households who own their homes.

MAS Core Inflation was stable at 1.7% in June

MAS Core Inflation, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, stayed at 1.7% in June, as the pickup in services inflation was offset by lower contributions from prices of retailrelated items such as clothing & footwear.