Overview

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The announcement by the government on the abolishment of the GST to zero rated starting June 1, discounted price by retailers in conjunction with Aidilfitri, Hari Gawai Dayak: Gaya Guru Gerai Nyamai and the Implementation of Price Control Scheme for 22 selected items in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri were significant events that have occurred throughout June 2018. These events had indirectly affected the prices of goods and services in the market. 

For the first time within 40 months, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded a value below 1.0 per cent in June 2018. The CPI stood at 0.8 per cent compared to 1.8 per cent in May 2018. A total 168,000 quotations were obtained from 21,800 establishments all over Malaysia showed decreases in all main groups except Transport group (+5.5 per cent) in June 2018 (May 2018:+3.8 per cent) especially for sub-group Fuels & Lubricants for Personal Transport Equipment 10.2 per cent (May 2018: +5.3 per cent). The increase in the Transport group was due to higher fuel prices in June 2018 as compared to the same period of the previous year, where the price of RON95 was RM2.20 in June 2018 (June 2017: RM2.00), RON97 RM2.58 (June 2017: RM2.27) and Diesel RM2.18 (June 2017: RM1.92).(Chart 1)

Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, CPI decreased 1.2 per cent as compared to May 2018 due to the decrease in all main groups. Among the main groups that recorded decreases were index for Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-3.1 per cent), Communication (-3.0 per cent), Recreation & Culture Services (-2.9 per cent), Clothing & Footwear (-2.6 per cent), Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (-2.4 per cent) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (-1.0 per cent). The CPI for the first six months of 2018 registered an increase of 1.6 per cent over the same period last year.

Chart 1: Consumer Price Index (2010=100): Percentage Change by Main Groups, Malaysia, June 2018/June 2017

Index for Sub-Groups Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages

The overall index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages which accounted 29.5 per cent in the CPI of weights, increased 0.8 per cent in June 2018. The increase was attributed by the food sub-group index which comprised of Fish & Seafood (+2.4 per cent), Fruits (+0.9 per cent) and Rice, Bread & Other Cereals (+0.5 per cent). On the other hand, the sub-group Vegetables decreased 2.6 per cent in June 2018 as compared to June 2017, followed by index for sub-group Meat (-2.3 per cent), Milk & Eggs (-1.0 per cent) and Oils & Fats (-0.2 per cent). The decrease was due to the index of goods which dropped in most states such as Cucumber (-21.5 per cent), Tomatoes (-18.9 per cent), Brinjals (-7.7 per cent), Ladies Fingers (-7.5 per cent), Chicken (-3.4 per cent), Fresh Milk (-2.5 per cent) and Oils (-0.4 per cent). Meanwhile, the index for Food Away From Home increased 2.2 per cent in June 2018.

Table 1: Consumer Price Index (2010=100): Annual Percentage Change by Sub-Groups Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Malaysia, June 2018/June 2017

States Index

In terms of overall CPI, three states surpassed the national CPI rate of 0.8 per cent recorded in June 2018 as compared to June 2017. The states were Negeri Sembilan (+1.1 per cent), Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya 0.9 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, the higher increase in the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages was reflected in most states in Malaysia. Three states recorded higher increases for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages index above the national index level (+0.8 per cent) in June 2018 as compared to the corresponding month in 2017. The index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose 3.5 per cent in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, 1.0 per cent in Sabah & Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan and 0.9 per cent in Terengganu. (Chart 2)

Chart 2: Consumer Price Index (2010=100): Annual Percentage Change for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages by State, June 2018/June 2017

Core Index

Core inflation rose 0.1 per cent in June 2018 as compared to the same month of the previous year. Among the major groups which influenced the higher core rate were price increases for Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+2.4 per cent), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.0 per cent) and Education (+0.9 per cent). Core inflation, which excludes most volatile items of fresh food, as well as administered prices of goods and services recorded changes ranging from 0.1 per cent to 2.2 per cent in the period January to June 2018 as compared with the same period of the previous year.(Table 2)

Table 2: Consumer Price Index (2010=100): Percentage Change of Headline CPI, Seasonally Adjusted Index and Core Index by Main Groups, Malaysia, June 2018/ June 2017

Annex 1: Average Price for Selected Items in Malaysia, June 2018 (RM) 

Released By:

DATO' SRI DR. MOHD UZIR MAHIDIN
CHIEF STATISTICIAN MALAYSIA
DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS, MALAYSIA
 DrUzir_Mahidin      Dr_Uzir

18 July 2018

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