Inflation is set to soar "substantially" in June due to high fuel prices, but it will not hit double digits, said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Abdul Samad.

According to him, inflation would spike once the impact from the recent fuel price hike kicks in. He said inflation in May rose 3.8 percent year-on-year.

shahrir samad consumer affair minister pc 100608 02 "The rise will be more because the increase in fuel price. I don't think it will reach double digit," he told reporters.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last week increased petrol prices by 41 percent in the face of rising global oil costs.

Since then, opposition parties have organised a series of protests that they say will culminate in a major demonstration on July 5.

The rise in May was "due to the drastic increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages, which includes items such as rice, flour and rice noodles," he said.

To import more frozen chicken

Non-alcoholic food and beverages represented 89 percent of the increase in May, the minister added.

Shahrir said on a monthly basis, consumer prices jumped 0.8 percent in May from April, while for the first five months of the year the index rose 2.9 percent from a year earlier.

He added that the government would encourage the import of frozen chicken in an attempt to reduce prices.

"We want to encourage the import of chicken ... this will give the freedom of choice to consumers and it is to stabilise the price of chicken," he said.

Chicken is the cheapest form of meat protein Malaysians consume.

Malaysia has kept its key interest rate unchanged at 3.50 percent.

Inflation reached 3.6 percent last year due to high global oil prices.