Inflation moderated to 0.2% yoy; the slowest rate in 42 months.

• Lower transportation index
• Core inflation decreased 0.2%
• Global inflation remains stable
• Inflation to pick up after reintroduction of SST

Malaysia’s inflation moderated to 0.2% yoy in August after increasing 0.9% in the previous month. The CPI was below 1.0% for the third consecutive month and at the slowest rate in 42 months. The sluggish growth was mainly prompted by the significant slowdown in transportation index (Aug: 2.1%; Jul: 6.7%) as well as the deceleration rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages (FNAB) index which held 29.5% over total weightage of headline inflation. FNAB index also registered the growth below 1.0% for three consecutive months in tandem with the headline inflation (Aug: 0.4%; Jul: 0.7%; Jun: 0.8%).

On a monthly basis, CPI remain unchanged at 0.2% in August and for the period Jan-Aug 2018, CPI registered an increase of 1.3% as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 19 Sept 2018