KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Malaysia's consumer price index
rose 1.3 percent in January from a year earlier, stronger than expected and
higher than in December, data from the Statistics Department showed on
Wednesday.
Economists polled by Reuters had predicted that the annual inflation rate
would hold steady from December's near three-year lows, but economists expect
price pressures to pick-up in the coming months when post-election measures kick
in.
MALAYSIA CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (base 2005)
PERCENTAGE CHANGE
Jan Dec Nov Oct Sept Aug July June May Apr Mar Feb
yr/yr 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.2
mth/mth 0.4 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0
January 2013
(percentage change year-on-year)
Food, non-alcoholic beverages 2.2
Alcoholic beverages, tobacco 2.0
Clothing, footwear -0.5
Housing, water, electricity, fuels 1.4
Furnishings, household equipment 1.7
Health 2.0
Transport 0.4
Communication -0.8
Recreation services, culture -0.1
Education 1.8
Restaurants, hotels 2.1
Miscellaneous goods/services 1.7
Weightings/contribution to the January 2013 CPI Components
Components Weightings Contribution (pct)
Food, non-alcoholic beverages 30.3 54.7
Alcoholic beverages 2.2 2.5
Clothing, footwear 3.4 4.7
Housing, water, electricity, fuels 22.6 17.6
Furnishings, household equipment 4.1 6.5
Health 1.3 1.6
Transport 14.9 3.1
Communication 5.7 -2.7
Recreation services, culture 4.6 -0.2
Education 1.4 2.1
Restaurants, hotels 3.2 4.4
Miscellaneous goods/services 6.3 5.7
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(Reporting by Anuradha Raghu; Editing by Kim Coghill and Siva Sithraputhran)
