KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) marked an increase by 2.2% in March 2022, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) reported recently.
The CPI numbers in March 2022 stands at 125.6, compared to the 122.9 in March of last year, further exceeding the average inflation rate for the period of January 2011-March 2022 that was 1.9%.
Chief statistician, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, said in a statement that the increase in headline inflation was primarily due to the 4% year-on-year (y-o-y) hike in food and non-alcoholic beverages.
“Food inflation continues to be a significant factor to inflation. The 4.0% increase in the food and non-alcoholic beverages group was mostly attributable to an increase in the food at home component. It recorded a 4.3% increase in March 2022, compared to the 4.1% in February 2022,” he explained.
The main driver of food inflation is the meat subgroup, he said, which recorded an increase of 7.6% in March 2022.
“Chicken, which is the largest component in the meat subgroup, grew by 10.5% whereas beef increased by 4.3%,” he added.
The overall CPI was also boosted by the increase in furniture, household equipment and routine household maintenance (3.0%) followed by the restaurants and hotels (2.9%) and transportation sector (2.6%).
Additionally, miscellaneous products and services recorded an increase of 1.9% whereas recreation services and culture grew by 1.1%.
Apart from that, both indexes for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and also education each grew by 0.9%. The alcoholic drinks and tobacco index recorded a hike of 0.5% while the health index increased by 0.2%.
On a monthly basis, the March 2022 CPI grew 0.3% over February 2022, owing to the increase in transportation (1.1%) and miscellaneous goods and services (0.6%).
Mohd Uzir revealed that inflation had increased in all states in the country. Selangor and Putrajaya recorded 2.9% inflation rate, far exceeding the national rate of 2.2%.
In March 2022, core inflation increased by 2.0% y-o-y with the transportation sector marking the highest increase of 3.9%.
Furthermore, the food and non-alcoholic beverages group also topped the list with 3.5% increase. This was followed by furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance (3.0%); restaurant and hotels (2.9%); miscellaneous goods and services (1.9%); and recreation services and culture (1.1%)
– BERNAMA
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