Singapore's inflation quickens to fastest pace since January
Updated 07:30 PM Jul 25, 2011
SINGAPORE - Singapore's inflation accelerated to the fastest pace since January as food and
housing costs increased, sustaining pressure on the central bank to allow the currency to
appreciate and contain price gains.
The consumer price index rose 5.2 per cent last month from a year earlier, the Department of
Statistics said in a statement today. That matched the median estimate of 13 economists
surveyed by Bloomberg News. Inflation was 4.5 per cent in May, according to previously
reported data.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore raised its inflation forecast for 2011 last week, citing
higher home rental and transportation costs. The island's currency has appreciated to
unprecedented levels since the central bank said in April it would allow further appreciation
to tame price gains, the third monetary tightening in a year.
"We do see some upside risks for inflation," Pay Shuzhen, a Singapore-based economist at
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., said before the report. "Food inflation seems
to be creeping back. A tight labor market, which gives rise to rising wages, will also cause
demand-pull pressures to increase."
Singapore's consumer prices may climb 4 percent to 5 percent this year, higher than a
previous forecast of 3 percent to 4 percent, central bank Managing Director Ravi Menon
said July 21. Singapore, which uses the exchange rate as its main tool to manage
inflation, said in April it will re-center the currency's trading band higher.
The Singapore dollar has gained more than 13 per cent against the U.S. currency in the
past year to be the best performer in Asia excluding Japan. It traded at S$1.2081 a
dollar at 12:28 p.m. local time.
Prices fell 0.2 per cent last month from May, without adjusting for seasonal factors, today's report showed.
Singapore's unemployment rate fell to 1.9 per cent in the first quarter and companies are increasing
wages to retain workers as job vacancies rise. Average wages before adjusting for inflation rose
8.5 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the Ministry of Manpower
said June 15. BLOOMBERG
Updated 07:30 PM Jul 25, 2011
SINGAPORE - Singapore's inflation accelerated to the fastest pace since January as food and
housing costs increased, sustaining pressure on the central bank to allow the currency to
appreciate and contain price gains.
The consumer price index rose 5.2 per cent last month from a year earlier, the Department of
Statistics said in a statement today. That matched the median estimate of 13 economists
surveyed by Bloomberg News. Inflation was 4.5 per cent in May, according to previously
reported data.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore raised its inflation forecast for 2011 last week, citing
higher home rental and transportation costs. The island's currency has appreciated to
unprecedented levels since the central bank said in April it would allow further appreciation
to tame price gains, the third monetary tightening in a year.
"We do see some upside risks for inflation," Pay Shuzhen, a Singapore-based economist at
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., said before the report. "Food inflation seems
to be creeping back. A tight labor market, which gives rise to rising wages, will also cause
demand-pull pressures to increase."
Singapore's consumer prices may climb 4 percent to 5 percent this year, higher than a
previous forecast of 3 percent to 4 percent, central bank Managing Director Ravi Menon
said July 21. Singapore, which uses the exchange rate as its main tool to manage
inflation, said in April it will re-center the currency's trading band higher.
The Singapore dollar has gained more than 13 per cent against the U.S. currency in the
past year to be the best performer in Asia excluding Japan. It traded at S$1.2081 a
dollar at 12:28 p.m. local time.
Prices fell 0.2 per cent last month from May, without adjusting for seasonal factors, today's report showed.
Singapore's unemployment rate fell to 1.9 per cent in the first quarter and companies are increasing
wages to retain workers as job vacancies rise. Average wages before adjusting for inflation rose
8.5 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the Ministry of Manpower
said June 15. BLOOMBERG
