KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): Malaysia’s consumer prices picked up and rose at a slightly faster-than-expected pace in May, largely driven by higher utility bills, though food inflation decelerated, official data on Tuesday showed.

The consumer price index — Malaysia’s main gauge of inflation — was up 2.0% in May, when compared to the same month last year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said in a statement. That compares to the median rise of 1.9% predicted in a Bloomberg survey of economists and April’s 1.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) gain.

The food and beverages group, which accounts for nearly 30% of the index’s weightage, rose 1.8% in May, compared to April's 2.0% rise y-o-y. The category that covers housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, however, rose 3.2%. Restaurant and accommodation services also climbed 3.2%.

Personal care, social protection, and miscellaneous goods and services were up 3.0%, while clothing and footwear contracted 0.2%.

Inflation for transport — which includes purchase of vehicles and public transport services — stood at 0.9% in May.

Core inflation, which measures domestic-driven inflation by excluding volatile items and other price-administered items, came in at 1.9% in May, the same pace as in April.

The official forecast calls for a headline inflation rate of 2% to 3.5% in 2024, versus 2.5% in 2023, with core inflation at 2% to 3% against the 3% average in 2023.