S'pore core inflation eases 2.5% in July, beats expectations

But overall inflation unchanged from June, led by slowdown in acommodation costs

- Claire Huang

Core inflation in Singapore cooled more than expected in July, with slower price increases recorded across the board.

Core inflation, which strips out private transport and accommodation costs to better reflect the expenses of households, fell to 2.5 per cent year on year in July, beating analysts' expectations of 2.9 per cent.

This is the lowest since February 2022, when it was 2.2 per cent. It is also the second straight month of easing after June's 2.9 per cent.

Overall or headline inflation in July was unchanged from June, at 2.4 per cent, led by a slowdown in accommodation costs. The figure also beats analysts' projection of 2.5 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, which represents how much momentum there still is in prices, core inflation dipped 0.1 per cent, while overall inflation fell by 0.3 per cent.

For the whole of 2024, core inflation will average 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent while overall inflation should range between 2 per cent and 3 per cent, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in their inflation report on Aug 23.

Their projections were unchanged from what MAS announced on July 26, when it trimmed its forecast for 2024 overall inflation to 2 per cent to 3 per cent, from an earlier estimate of 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent.