Malaysia’s inflation eases to 2.4% in June (Photo: nst.com.my) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia’s consumer price index (CPI) continued to ease in June to 2.4%, the lowest level recorded so far in 2023, according to the Malaysian Statistics Department (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the slower increment in June was driven by the lower increase in components such as restaurants and hotels (5.4%) and food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.7%), among others.
On state-level inflation, Uzir said 10 states recorded increases below the national inflation level of 2.4%, with one state posting the lowest increase of 1.2% in June. Six other states recorded increases from 2.7-3.0%. In comparison to selected countries in the Asia-Pacific region, he said, the inflation rate in Malaysia was lower than that in the Republic of Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Meanwhile, inflation in the eurozone increased at a slower rate of 5.5% in June 2023 versus 6.1% in the previous month, while inflation in the US eased to 3.0% against 4.0% in May.
According to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), the country’s trade surplus widened by 11.3% year-on-year to 25.81 billion RM (5.7 billion USD) in June 2023, marking the 38th consecutive month of trade surplus since May 2020.
MATRADE said in tandem with slower global demand and lower commodity prices, total trade contracted by 16.3% to 222.14 billion RM in June 2023, while exports slipped by 14.1% to 123.98 billion RM and imports decreased by 18.9 % to 98.16 billion RM.
For the first six months of 2023, DOSM said total trade decreased by 4.6% from the same period in 2022 with trade surplus recorded a higher value of 118.5 billion RM in the first half of this year./.
