MALAYSIA'S CPI COOLS TO 2.0% IN JULY 2023 - DOSM

Malaysia's Consumer Price Index (CPI) cooled to  2.0% in July 2023, the lowest for the year, with the index points recorded at 130.5 as against 127.9 in the same month of 2022, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

Inflation, which came in at 2.4% year-on-year in June, has shown a moderating trend since January, when it stood at 3.7%.

In a statement, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the low inflation rate was driven by the slower increase in restaurants and hotels at 5.0% against 5.4% in June, and food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.4%), followed by miscellaneous goods and services (2.6%) while both health and education groups increased by 2.0% respectively.

He said the food and non-alcoholic beverages group, which contributed 29.5% of total CPI weight, recorded a moderate increase of 4.4%.

“The component of food at home recorded a slower increase for five consecutive months to 3.0% in July 2023 as compared with 3.2% recorded in the previous month.

“The increase in the component of food at home was mainly driven by the subgroup of meat (5.5% ); rice, bread and other cereals (4.5%); milk, cheese and eggs (4.3%) and sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery (3.5%),” he said.

Mohd Uzir said the subgroup of meat, which consists of chicken, beef, pork, lamb, buffalo and duck, registered an increase of 5.5% in July 2023.

He said chicken was the largest component in the subgroup of meat, increasing to 4.3% as against 2.6% in June 2023.

Mohd Uzir said nine states recorded increases below the national inflation level of 2.0%, with Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan recording the lowest increase of 1.1% in July 2023.

However, six states recorded increases above the national inflation level, namely Pahang (2.6%), Sarawak (2.6%), Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (2.6%), Perak (2.4%), Selangor (2.4%) and Melaka (2.2%).