Malaysia: Inflation dropped to 5-month low in August – UOB

UOB Group’s Senior Economist Julia Goh and Economist Loke Siew Ting assess the latest inflation figures in the Malaysian economy.

Key Takeaways

“Headline inflation eased further to a 5-month low of 2.0% y/y in Aug (Jul: +2.2% y/y). This came in lower than our estimate (2.1%) and Bloomberg consensus (2.2%). It was a broad-based moderation, led by food, transport (particularly air flight), housing, utilities & other fuels (i.e. housing rental), and miscellaneous goods & services (especially personal effects) segments.”

“We expect inflation to remain stable and hover around its long-term 20-year average level of 2.0% for the rest of 2021 and into 2022… We reiterate our full-year inflation forecasts of 2.5% for 2021 (BNM’s forecast: 2.0%-3.0%) and 2022.”