• CPI increased by 3.7% yoy and rebounded to 0.9% mom
• Core inflation grew marginally lower at 2.4% yoy
• Global inflation picks up in August
• Inflation forecast revised higher

Malaysia's consumer price index in August rose 3.7% yoy, mainly fuelled by higher petrol prices. Majority of the main groups indices were higher in August with the index of transport group showed a significant increase of 11.7% yoy. The index for food and non-alcoholic beverages – which accounted for 30.2% in the CPI weights -- increased 4.3% in August (Jul: 4.2%).

On monthly basis, headline inflation increased 0.9% after posted fifth consecutive months of negative growth since March 2017. The growth was underpinned by the transportation index which rallied to 4.6% from -1.1% registered in July. When based on a seasonally adjusted term, the overall CPI for August increased 0.9% mom.

CPI for the period January-August 2017 registered an increase of 3.9% compared with the same period last year, mainly due to an increase in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index (+4.2).

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 21 Sept 2017