Chart of the Day: Inflation up to 4.3% in December

Blame costs of accommodation and cars.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry reported:

CPI-All Items inflation rose to 4.3% in December from 3.6% in November 2012. The increase was due to higher contribution from costs of accommodation and cars.

Accommodation cost inflation reached 8.5% in December compared to 6.6% in November. The costs of rented accommodation and minor repairs & maintenance picked up sharply, largely on account of base effects associated with the disbursement of government rebates for HDB households. Imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation (OOA) contributed 1.2% points to overall inflation.

In tandem with the recent surge in COE premiums, private road transport cost climbed by 9.3% y-o-y in December after increasing by 6.7% in November.

Together, accommodation and private road transport costs accounted for more than two thirds of CPI-All Items inflation in December.

Services inflation edged down to 2.5% in December from 2.9% in November, led by a decline in telecommunication charges and a more moderate rise in the costs of holiday travel and medical treatment.

Price increases for both non-cooked food and prepared meals slowed in December. As a result, food inflation eased to 1.5% from 1.7% in the preceding month.

For the whole of 2012, CPI-All Items inflation averaged 4.6%, lower than the 5.2% in 2011.