Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures headline inflation, increased by 0.2 percent in May to 121.4 as compared with 121.1 in the same month last year.

Statistics Department said the major groups which contributed to the increase were housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (+1.8 percent); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+1.3 percent); education (+1.2 percent); restaurants and hotels (+0.6 percent) and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (0.5 percent).

On a monthly basis, CPI rose 0.2 percent as compared with April 2019, said chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin (above) in the report released today.

Meanwhile, he said the Jan-May 2019 CPI registered a decrease of 0.1 percent as compared with the same period last year.

The overall index for food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 1.2 percent in May 2019.

"The increase was attributed by the food sub-group index of vegetables (+4.5 percent), fish and seafood (+0.9 percent), and milk and eggs (+0.7 per cent)," he said.

The Statistics Department also reported that in terms of the CPI by states, three states, namely Penang (+0.7 percent), Negeri Sembilan (+0.6 percent) and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (+0.5 percent), surpassed the national CPI rate of 0.2 percent recorded in May 2019 as compared with May 2018.

The department also reported the increase in the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages was reflected by all states with Kuala Lumpur recording an increase of 2.8 percent, Johor (+1.8 percent) and Negeri Sembilan (+1.4 percent), surpassed the national index of food and non-alcoholic beverages in May this year.

- Bernama