Singapore’s May CPI at 7.5%

SINGAPORE: Singapore's annual inflation held at a lower-than-expected 7.5% in May, still hovering at a 26-year high, as higher costs of food, transport, communication and housing raised consumer prices.

From the previous month, May consumer prices rose 0.3% after seasonal adjustments, the Department of Statistics said in a statement yesterday.

The annual rate of increase in consumer prices in May matched the pace seen in April, which was also 7.5%.

Most economists had expected consumer prices in May to rise 7.8% from a year earlier – the fastest pace since February 1982 when they rose 9% due to high energy and food prices.

Central banks across the world from China to the United States are fighting rising inflation as higher oil and commodity prices push up consumer prices.

A sub-index for housing costs was up 12.4% in May from a year ago while food prices, which carry the largest weighting in the index at 23%, rose 9%. – Reuters