SINGAPORE: Data from the Department of Statistics
(DOS) showed that November's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.8
per cent compared to a year ago.
That is above the 3.7 per cent increase reached in September, which
was then the highest level reached for this year. The figure was in
line with market expectations, though it accelerated from the 3.5
per cent on-year hike in October.
Last month's CPI was
driven by higher costs of transport, housing and food.
Excluding accommodation costs, DOS said inflation was 3.7 per cent
higher.
On-year, transport costs
registered the highest increase at 9.4 per cent while
housing cost followed with 4.0 per cent increase. In particular,
the increase in the cost of transport stemmed mainly from higher
prices of cars as premiums for certificates of entitlement
soared.
Compared to the previous month, CPI was 0.3 per cent higher in
November as a result of higher costs of housing, transport as well
as recreation & others.
Housing costs rose by 0.5 per cent on-month due to higher
accommodation costs while transport was 0.4 per cent higher from
the previous month mainly due to the higher prices for cars and
petrol.
The increase in holiday travel cost and salary for foreign maids
also raised the index for "recreation & others" by 0.5 per cent
on-month, according to the DOS.
With pressure coming from strong capital inflows across Asia and
hikes in wages, commodity and oil prices, analysts say further
tightening from the central bank would likely be on the
cards.
DBS senior economist Irvin Seah said: "With inflationary pressure
picking up, I think it is very likely the central banks will
continue to tighten monetary policy and this will be in line with
the outlook for monetary policy across Asia as well.
"We think Asian central banks (will) continue to be behind the
curve and we expect another 24 monetary tightening moves by central
banks across the region, one of which will come from the MAS in
April next year."