By Ronnie Harui

Singapore's headline and core consumer prices are likely to be between flat and a 0.5% decline this year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry said Friday.

The revised forecast compares with a previous projection for the headline and core consumer-price indexes to be between flat and a 1.0% drop in 2020.

External inflation is expected to remain low amid weak demand conditions in key commodity markets and the persistence of negative output gaps in Singapore's major trading partners in the quarters ahead, the central bank and the Trade and Industry Ministry said in a joint statement. Meanwhile, domestic cost pressures are expected to remain subdued, while the accumulated slack in the labor market will weigh on wages, they said.

For 2021, core inflation is forecast to average 0.0% to 1.0%, and headline consumer prices are projected to be between a 0.5% decline and a 0.5% increase, the MAS and MTI said.

Write to Ronnie Harui at ronnie.harui@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-23-20 0211ET