Singapore June core inflation rises 4.2%, matches forecast

Visitors walk along rows of shops in Chinatown in Singapore January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Caroline Chia/File photo

SINGAPORE  – Singapore’s key consumer price gauge rose 4.2 percent in June, matching economists’ forecasts, official data showed on Monday.

Inflation was lower as prices of food and energy eased, according to a joint statement by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the trade ministry.

“Global supply chain frictions, energy and food commodity prices have moderated,” they said.

The core inflation rate – which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs – rose 4.2 percent year-on-year in June, in line with a Reuters poll of economists, and easing from 4.7 percent in May.

Headline inflation was up 4.5 percent year-on-year in June, compared with a forecast 4.55 percent increase in a Reuters poll, and 5.1 percent in May.

Authorities said core prices should moderate further in the second half of the year.

Core inflation was expected to average 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent while headline inflation was forecast at 4.5 to 5.5 percent this year, according to the government.

Economists are generally expecting MAS to keep monetary policy settings unchanged in the next review in October on a weak growth outlook and the still elevated but easing inflation.

The MAS left the monetary policy settings unchanged in April, after tightening five times in a row since October 2021, reflecting concerns over the city-state’s growth outlook.

Singapore’s economy narrowly dodged a recession in the second quarter of 2023, preliminary data showed, though economists cautioned of a possible downward revision in final data.