Malaysia: Inflation slides in September
Inflation came in at 4.5% in September, down from Augusts 4.7%. The cooling of price pressures was primarily driven by slower growth in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages. In addition, price pressures for housing and utilities grew at a softer pace.
The trend pointed up slightly, with annual average inflation coming in at 3.2% in September (August: 3.0%).
Finally, consumer prices increased a seasonally adjusted 0.08% in September over the previous month, below the 0.23% rise logged in August. September’s result marked the softest rise in prices since August 2021.
Commenting on the outlook, analysts at the EIU stated:
“We believe that consumer price inflation is likely to have peaked in August. However, we maintain our view that consumer prices will continue to exceed BNM’s forecast range in the final months of 2022, although the headline rate of inflation will fall below 4% from October, amid a mild abatement in food price inflation.”