A market in Malaysia (Photo: Bernama) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia’s consumer price index (CPI) in April increased 2.3 percent to 125.9 compared with 123.1 in the same month last year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia has said.
The increase surpassed the average inflation in Malaysia for the period of between January 2011 and April 2022 (1.9 percent).
Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said food inflation in April was higher at 4.1 percent with 89.1 percent of food items in the food and beverages group recording increases.
He pointed out that the increase in food inflation, which contributed the highest to the overall weight of CPI, remained a major contributor to inflation. Inflation for this group increased 4.1 percent in April 2022 compared to the same month of the previous year.
On a monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.2 percent compared to March 2022, attributed by food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport, recreation services and culture, and restaurants and hotels which increased marginally by 0.4 percent, respectively.
According to a Moody’s Analytics report, Malaysia will be among the economies that will win big from the high commodity prices and will pay less of a price on the inflation side as it exports several times of its domestic production.
It highlighted that Malaysia, Colombia, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia were among the few economies that would benefit from the high commodity prices.
Senior economist Jesse Rogers said in an analysis titled "Emerging Market View: The Growth Recession” that for Indonesia and Malaysia, it will be palm oil whose price has surged./.
