• Inflation increased 0.2% yoy, flat on monthly basis

• Core inflation grew by 0.5%

• Inflation picked up across most advanced and regional economies

• Inflation forecast revised lower

Malaysia's inflation stood at 0.2% yoy in April, unchanged from the previous month. The main groups that contributed to the increases were housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels, alcoholic, beverages & tobacco, education, food & non-alcoholic beverages and restaurants & hotels while transport prices fell less than a month earlier. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were flat in April, following a 0.2% gain in March.

Food & non-alcoholic beverages (FNAB) increased 1.1% in April, the same as the previous month. The increase was attributed by the food sub-group index of vegetables (+2.2%), milk & eggs (+1.9%), fish & seafood (+0.2%) and fruits (+0.1%). By grouping, consumer prices for food at home continued to drop by -0.2% yoy while that of food away from home rose 3.1% yoy.

The CPI for the period of January-April declined by 0.2% as compared to the same period of the preceding year.

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 27 May 2019