Amid surging prices of food and services, the Lion City’s core inflation rose to 5.1% on a YoY (year-on-year) basis in August, near a 14-year high.
The city-state’s core inflation — which excludes accommodation and private transport costs — accelerated in August from 4.8% in July.
The last time the high core-inflation was recorded in November 2008 at 5.5%.
Meanwhile, all-items consumer price index (CPI) in June rose to 7.5% year on year in July, up from 7.0% in June, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a joint statement.
According to MAS and MTI, Singapore’s core inflation is projected to stay elevated over the next few months, with car and accommodation cost increases likely to stay firm for the rest of the year.
For the full year, all-items CPI is expected to come in at 5.0-6.0%, while core inflation is projected to average 3.0-4.0%, they said.
“Fresh shocks to global commodity prices, as well as domestic wage pressures remain as upside risks to inflation,” according to the joint statement.
Singapore trimmed its 2022 GDP growth forecast to 3-4% earlier in August, from the previous estimate of 3-5%, due to the deteriorating global economic environment.
