The Consumer Price Index (CPI) of Singapore rose 0.2 per cent in March, compared to the 0.5 per cent inflation in February, official data showed on Monday.
The joint release by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) showed that the core inflation decreased to 1.5 per cent in March from 1.7 per cent in March.
The authorities attribute the smaller CPI inflation mainly to a smaller increase in the prices of services and a fall in private road transport cost, reports Xinhua.
They add that the MAS Core Inflation decrease reflected lower services inflation.
The country’s food inflation dipped to 1.4 per cent in March from 1.5 per cent in February; private road transport cost declined 0.6 per cent in March, reversing the 0.6 per cent growth in February.
The accommodation costs of the Asian country fell by 3.4 per cent, moderating slightly from the 3.6 per cent drop in the previous month while the services inflation dropped to 1.4 per cent from 1.9 per cent.
The free-market economic country’s CPI inflation is expected to be at the upper half of the 01 per cent forecast range this year, the release said.
The MAS core inflation is expected to rise gradually over the course of 2018 to come in at the upper half of the 12 per cent forecast range, should economic conditions evolve as expected.