KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Malaysia’s consumer price index rose 1.8 per cent in May from a year earlier, meeting market expectations, on stronger fuel and transport prices and rising demand for food, government data showed today.
The inflation rate in May was the fastest pace since January and was higher than the 1.4 per cent recorded in April. A Reuters poll forecast a 1.8 per cent growth.
In May, the index for transport jumped 3.8 per cent while increases were also recorded for food and non-alcoholic beverages, data from the Statistics Department showed.
Gains of 2.1 per cent were also seen in each of the indexes for restaurants and hotels, and housing, according to the data.
Malaysia’s central bank left its key interest rate unchanged in its last review on a lower inflation rate and steady economic growth, after the country’s former ruling coalition was ousted in a shock election upset. The central bank next meets on July 11. — Reuters
