September 2022 inflation rate at 4.5pct, lower that of August

Malaysia recorded an inflation rate of 4.5 percent in September 2022, which is lower than the 4.7 percent in August 2022, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Mustapa Mohamed.

He said that on a month-on-month comparison, inflation in September 2022 continued to moderate to 0.1 percent compared to 0.2 percent in August 2022, while for the period from January to September 2022, the inflation rate recorded 3.3 percent.

“Malaysia recorded a lower inflation rate for September 2022 compared to some places such as the eurozone (10.0 percent), the United States (8.2 percent), the Philippines (6.9 percent), Thailand (6.4 percent), Indonesia (6.0 percent) and South Korea (5.6 percent),” he said in a statement today.

Mustapa (above) said the increase in September was mainly contributed by an increase in food group inflation, which moderated to 6.8 percent compared to 7.2 percent in August, driven by the food component at home which increased moderately, which was 5.7 per cent compared to 6.4 per cent in August.

“The meat sub-group, which includes chicken, beef, pork, lamb, buffalo and duck, has recorded a slower increase to 6.6 percent in September, compared to 9.9 percent in August.

“This is mainly due to chicken, which is the largest component in this subgroup representing 46.1 percent, showing a significant moderation in price increases, which is 3.7 percent compared to 10.7 percent in August," he said.

Although the milk, cheese and egg group recorded the highest increase of 8.8 percent in September, it was still slower than the 9.4 percent increase in August, he added.

Mustapa said chicken eggs, which contributed 22.8 percent to the overall weight of the milk, cheese and egg subgroup, also moderated to 9.0 percent compared to 12.6 percent in the previous month.

The vegetable subgroup also started to moderate in September with 6.3 percent compared to 8.9 percent in the previous month.

Among the vegetables and some types of fish that recorded a month-on-month price drop are tomatoes (9.9 percent), cucumbers (7.8 percent), French beans (4.2 percent), drift fish (3.4 percent) and yellowtail scad (1.2 percent)

Cooking oil prices drop

“While the maximum price of pure cooking oil packaged in bottles of various sizes has recorded a decrease with effect from Sept 8 to Oct 7, 2022, with the content of five kilogrammes (kg) recording the largest reduction, which is a decrease to RM33.50 from RM34.70.

”The effect of this initiative can be seen clearly through a small increase of 4.8 percent for blended oil items compared to 6.6 percent in August 2022," he said.

Mustapa said the implementation of the maximum price of bottled palm oil and the setting of the ceiling price of chicken introduced by the government, had a positive impact and relieved consumers, especially traders, from having to cover the high cost of raw materials, thereby reducing their burden.

“Although Parliament has been dissolved on Oct 10, measures to curb price increases will continue to be implemented to ensure that Keluarga Malaysia is not burdened with the increase in the price of goods," he added.

Among the latest measures taken by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs are - the ceiling price of standard chicken at the retail level is maintained at RM9.40 per kg; while grade A, B and C chicken eggs at ceiling prices of 45 sen, 43 sen and 41 sen each; the subsidy of 80 sen per kg of chicken to chicken farmers continues until December 2022; the increase in subsidy to 8 sen from 3 sen for an egg to chicken egg producers is also continued until December 2022; and monitoring and enforcement of cartel activities especially for chicken and chicken eggs.

He said the government is aware of various complaints published in the mass media, especially regarding the issue of the lack of subsidised grade A, B and C chicken eggs in the market.

Subsequently, the Agriculture Ministry and the Domestic Trade Ministry are constantly monitoring the issue and will present the monitoring results during the Special Anti-inflation Team Meeting on Oct 25.

“This is in line with the government's efforts to ensure that the country's inflation rate continues to be under control, especially the increase in prices for food items, including food outside the home, through stricter control on profiteering activities," Mustapa added.

- Bernama

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