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Thursday September 17, 2009

Consumer price index down 2.4% in Aug


KUALA LUMPUR: The consumer price index (CPI) fell for a third straight month in August, declining 2.4% compared with the same month last year.

The drop was due to the lingering base effect from last year when food and energy costs were spiking, the Statistics Department said.

Compared with July, the CPI was up 0.2%.

The CPI for January to August increased by 1.3%.

“Its a marginal increase,” Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob told a press briefing yesterday, in reference to the month-on-month increase.

On the inflation outlook, he said: “Based on our forecast, there should not be a sudden increase. There is no reason for prices or inflation to go up.”

The index for food and non-alcoholic beverages for August rose 1.4% while the index for non-food items dropped 4.3%.

For the January-to-August period, the index for food and non-alchoholic beverages increased by 5.9% while non-food items registered a decrease of 0.9%.


For reports from the Statistics Department click here

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