Malaysia CPI Falls at Slower Pace in December

By Chester Tay

KUALA LUMPUR--Malaysia's consumer price index fell in December, weighed mostly by fuel and utilities prices amid lower crude oil prices and the government's electricity subsidies to alleviate the economic impact of Covid-19.

The latest CPI reading marked the 10th consecutive month of deflation in the Southeast Asian nation since the pandemic started here.

CPI in December fell 1.4% from a year earlier, compared with a 1.7% decline in November, the Department of Statistics said Friday. The decline was milder than the median forecast for a 1.6% fall by 12 economists in a Wall Street Journal poll.

The data also showed that prices for clothing and footwear, restaurants and hotels and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance all declined in December.

However, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, health, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, education and recreation services and culture rose in December.

CPI without fuel declined 0.1% in December.

For 2020, CPI fell 1.2% from 2019, the data showed.

On a monthly basis, CPI rose 0.5% last month, attributable in part to higher prices of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and transport.

Write to Chester Tay at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-21-21 2314ET