Xinhua, Kuala Lumpur :
Malaysia’s inflation rate rose 3.7 percent in October, driven by food and transport costs, said Malaysian Statistics Department Friday.
The annual inflation rate, which is measured by consumer price index, grew in October, as transport index surged 12.1 percent, while food & non-alcoholic beverages index increased by 4.4 percent.
CPI for the January to October rose 4 per cent year-on-year, with food & non-alcoholic beverages remained the main contributor.
As the inflation rate is within expectations, economists are maintaining their full year inflation forecasts at 3.8 to 3.9 percent, with fuel prices remain the key factor.
“The floods in Northern state may have disrupted the logistics and led to higher food and fuel prices, but it should be a temporarily trend,” RHB Research Institute economists Vincent Loo Yeong Hong told Xinhua.
He maintains his full year inflation forecast at 3.8 percent, but expects it to moderate to 2.7 percent next year, as fuel prices are likely to moderate.
TA Securities’ chief economist Shazma Juliana, who is maintaining her full year inflation forecast at 3.9 percent, sees the transport inflation to remain high in the next two months.
“However, we see upside potential for our inflation forecast of 2.6 percent next year, due the fluctuation of global oil prices,” she told Xinhua.
