Malaysia’s inflation rate in September 2022 recorded 4.5%, which is lower than 4.7% in August 2022. Similarly, month-to-month comparisons show inflation in September 2022 continued to moderate to 0.1% compared to 0.2% in August 2022. For the period from January to September 2022, the inflation rate is 3.3%.
For the month of September 2022, Malaysia recorded a lower inflation rate compared to some selected countries such as the Euro Zone (10.0%), the United States (8.2%), the Philippines (6.9%), Thailand (6.4%), Indonesia (6.0%) and Republic of Korea (5.6%).
The increase in September 2022 was mainly contributed by the increase in Food group inflation which moderated to 6.8% compared to 7.2% in August 2022. The slow increase for the Food group was driven by the Food at home component which increased moderately, which was 5.7% compared to 6.4% in August 2022.
The meat subgroup which includes chicken, beef, pork, lamb, buffalo, and duck has recorded a slower increase to 6.6% in September 2022 compared to 9.9% in August 2022. This is mainly due to chicken being the largest component in this subgroup representing 46.1 % has shown a significant moderation in price increases, which is 3.7% compared to 10.7% in August 2022.
Although the milk, cheese & egg group recorded the highest increase of 8.8% in September 2022, it was still slower than the 9.4% increase in August 2022. Chicken eggs which contributed 22.8% to the overall weight of the milk, cheese and egg subgroup also moderated to 9.0 % compared to 12.6% in the previous month.
The vegetable subgroup has also started to moderate in September 2022 with a record of 6.3% compared to 8.9% in the previous month. Among the vegetables that recorded a month-on-month price drop are tomatoes (-9.9%), cucumbers (-7.8%), and beans (-4.2%). In addition to vegetables, some types of fish also experienced a price drop such as kelp fish (-3.4%) and yellow kelp fish (-1.2%).
The maximum price of pure cooking oil packaged in bottles of various sizes has recorded a decrease with effect from 8 September to 7 October 2022 with the content of five kilograms recording the largest reduction, which is a decrease from RM34.70 to RM33.50. The impact of this initiative can be clearly seen through a small increase of 4.8% for compound oil items compared to 6.6% in August 2022. (The current retail ceiling price of pure cooking oil in a five-kilogram bottle set for the period until 7 November 2022 is RM31.50 ).
The implementation of the maximum price of bottled palm oil and the setting of the ceiling price of chicken introduced by the Government has had a positive impact and relieved consumers, especially traders, from having to cover the high cost of raw materials, thus reducing their burden.
Although Parliament has been dissolved on 10 October, measures to curb price increases continue to be implemented to ensure that Malaysian families do not continue to be burdened by rising prices of goods. Among the latest measures taken by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI) and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) include:
The ceiling price of standard chicken at the retail level is maintained at RM9.40 per kilogram, while grade A, B, and C chicken eggs, respectively, at ceiling prices of 45 sen, 43 sen, and 41 sen per egg;
b. The subsidy of 80 cents per kilogram of chicken to chicken farmers continues until December 2022;
c. The increase in subsidies from 3 cents to 8 cents per egg to chicken egg producers is also continued until December 2022; and
d. Monitoring and enforcement of cartel activities, especially for chicken and chicken eggs, continues to be increased due to allegations of rationing of chicken and egg supply making it difficult for Malaysian families to obtain supplies.
