• Inflation increased 0.2% yoy, 0.2% mom

• Core inflation grew by 0.4%

• Inflation picks up in regional economies but remain volatile in advanced economies

• Inflation remains benign in May but expect uptick in June

Malaysia's inflation stood at 0.2% yoy in May, unchanged from the previous two month. Main upward pressure came from both food and housing & utilities prices while transport prices continued to drop but at a slower pace. On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up by 0.2% in May, following a flat reading in April.

Food & non-alcoholic beverages (FNAB), which account for 29.5% of the CPI weights, increased 1.2% in May. The increase was attributed by the food sub-group index of vegetables (+4.5%), milk & eggs (+0.7%) and fish & seafood (+0.9%). Meanwhile, prices of fresh meat declined 4.0% yoy. By grouping, consumer prices for food at home increased by 0.2% yoy while that of food away from home rose 2.9% yoy.

The CPI for the period of January-May declined by 0.1% as compared to the same period of the preceding year.

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 26 Jun 2019