KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Malaysia’s consumer price index in April rose 2.1 per cent from a year earlier, slightly slower than the previous month’s pace, government data showed today.

The figure was just below the median forecast of 2.2 per cent in a Reuters poll, and down from March’s 2.6 per cent growth.

April’s inflation rate was attributed to rising costs of food, alcohol and tobacco products from a year earlier, according to data from the Statistics Department.

Inflation reached a seven-year peak of 4.2 per cent in February, but is expected to moderate over the year as low fuel prices persist and the effects of a goods and services tax implemented in April 2015 fade. — Reuters