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TRANSPORT, housing and food prices are spiking as Singapore's consumer price index (CPI) continues its steady upward climb, to hit a 20-month high of 3.7 per cent last month as compared to a year ago.
According to data released by the Singapore Department of Statistics (Singstat) yesterday, transport costs jumped by 9.1 per cent year-on-year, driven up mainly by higher prices of cars and insurance premiums.
Housing costs rose by 4.7 per cent on an annual basis, as a result of higher accommodation costs and electricity tariffs.
Food prices, meanwhile, advanced by 1.7 per cent. Singstat said this was due to costlier prepared meals, vegetables, fresh seafood and staples such as rice, dairy products, eggs as well as chilled meat.
Some Singaporeans are feeling the pinch brought about by rising inflation, especially when it comes to the purchase of costlier items.
Mr Jonathan Ng, a 31-year-old graphic designer, said he is reconsidering the purchase of a new car because of the current high certificate of entitlement (COE) and car prices.
COE premiums have more than doubled from a year ago to $30,000-$40,000, pushing up car prices amid a shrinking COE supply.
Last week, COE prices in Category A - for cars below 1,600cc - eased $717 to $32,415, while that for Cat B - for cars above 1,600cc - climbed $1,799 to $44,600. The Open Category - Cat E - tracked Cat B and rose $810 to $44,900.
"Having your own car is certainly more convenient, but it's also a huge investment. With the higher car prices now, together with the cost of petrol and parking, I might be better off taking public transport instead," said Mr Ng.
The current high prices of Housing Board flats and private housing are also causing many Singaporeans to adopt a wait-and-see approach.
Property agents said that many interested buyers are still waiting for the full impact of housing rules introduced by the Government at the end of August.
But Singaporeans hoping for good news soon may have quite a while to wait, despite recent attempts by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to curb inflation.
MAS announced on Oct 14 that it would slightly steepen and widen the Singapore dollar's trading band, allowing it to strengthen at a faster pace.
Even after MAS' announcement, economists such as OCBC's head of Treasury Research and Strategy unit, Ms Selena Ling, said they expect inflation to remain high and peak, towards the year-end, at around 4.7 per cent.
Headline CPI inflation is projected to stay high in the first half of next year at around 3.5 per cent before moderating.
MAS said it hopes to cap inflation at 2 to 3 per cent next year.
Said DBS economist Irvin Seah yesterday: "Risks are certainly tilting towards inflation rather than growth... Moreover, wages are rising as the labour market tightens, and this is expected to have some knock-on effect on prices at some stage."
He pointed out that the main inflationary threat lies in the external environment, in the form of large capital inflows into Singapore and the rest of Asia.
An earlier DBS report estimated that US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion) has been flowing into Asia every day since last year.
This, combined with Asia's own capacity constraints and loose monetary policies in the developed economies, is fuelling asset- price inflation.
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According to data released by the Singapore Department of Statistics (Singstat) yesterday, transport costs jumped by 9.1 per cent year-on-year, driven up mainly by higher prices of cars and insurance premiums.
Housing costs rose by 4.7 per cent on an annual basis, as a result of higher accommodation costs and electricity tariffs.
Food prices, meanwhile, advanced by 1.7 per cent. Singstat said this was due to costlier prepared meals, vegetables, fresh seafood and staples such as rice, dairy products, eggs as well as chilled meat.
Some Singaporeans are feeling the pinch brought about by rising inflation, especially when it comes to the purchase of costlier items.
Mr Jonathan Ng, a 31-year-old graphic designer, said he is reconsidering the purchase of a new car because of the current high certificate of entitlement (COE) and car prices.
COE premiums have more than doubled from a year ago to $30,000-$40,000, pushing up car prices amid a shrinking COE supply.
Last week, COE prices in Category A - for cars below 1,600cc - eased $717 to $32,415, while that for Cat B - for cars above 1,600cc - climbed $1,799 to $44,600. The Open Category - Cat E - tracked Cat B and rose $810 to $44,900.
"Having your own car is certainly more convenient, but it's also a huge investment. With the higher car prices now, together with the cost of petrol and parking, I might be better off taking public transport instead," said Mr Ng.
The current high prices of Housing Board flats and private housing are also causing many Singaporeans to adopt a wait-and-see approach.
Property agents said that many interested buyers are still waiting for the full impact of housing rules introduced by the Government at the end of August.
But Singaporeans hoping for good news soon may have quite a while to wait, despite recent attempts by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to curb inflation.
MAS announced on Oct 14 that it would slightly steepen and widen the Singapore dollar's trading band, allowing it to strengthen at a faster pace.
Even after MAS' announcement, economists such as OCBC's head of Treasury Research and Strategy unit, Ms Selena Ling, said they expect inflation to remain high and peak, towards the year-end, at around 4.7 per cent.
Headline CPI inflation is projected to stay high in the first half of next year at around 3.5 per cent before moderating.
MAS said it hopes to cap inflation at 2 to 3 per cent next year.
Said DBS economist Irvin Seah yesterday: "Risks are certainly tilting towards inflation rather than growth... Moreover, wages are rising as the labour market tightens, and this is expected to have some knock-on effect on prices at some stage."
He pointed out that the main inflationary threat lies in the external environment, in the form of large capital inflows into Singapore and the rest of Asia.
An earlier DBS report estimated that US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion) has been flowing into Asia every day since last year.
This, combined with Asia's own capacity constraints and loose monetary policies in the developed economies, is fuelling asset- price inflation.
[email protected]
