SINGAPORE: Singapore's headline inflation rate rose to 0.6 per cent year-on-year in June 2018 from 0.4 per cent in the previous month, its highest in seven months, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced on Monday (Jul 23).

June's rate - the highest since November last year, which also saw a rise to 0.6 per cent - was largely due to higher food and services inflation.



Food inflation rose to 1.5 per cent in June from 1.3 per cent in May, as a faster pace of increase in the prices of non-cooked food items more than offset a slower pace of increase in the prices of prepared meals, said the two bodies.

Services inflation edged up to 1.7 per cent in June from 1.6 per cent in the previous month, largely due to a stronger pick-up in holiday expenses as well as a rise in telecommunications services fees following the year-ago decline in May.

In addition, the overall cost of retail items increased by 1.6 per cent in June, larger than the 1.3 per cent rise in May.

This mostly reflected a faster pace of increase in the prices of clothing and footwear, medical products, appliances and equipment, as well as a smaller year-ago decline in the prices of household durable goods, said MAS and MTI.



Private road transport inflation rose to 0.4 per cent in June from 0.1 per cent in May, due to a smaller year-ago decline in car prices and a faster pace of increase in petrol prices.

The cost of accommodation fell by 3 per cent in June, easing from the 3.2 per cent decline in the preceding month. This reflected a more gradual decline in housing rentals, said MAS and MTI.

Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, rose to 1.7 per cent from 1.5 per cent in the previous month.



Core inflation is expected to rise gradually over the course of the year to average in the upper half of the 1 to 2 per cent forecast range, should economic conditions evolve as expected, said the two bodies.



