Malaysia’s CPI up 3.2 pct in 2011

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for 2011 increased 3.2 per cent to 103.2 compared with that of 100.0 in the previous year.

The CPI for December 2011 registered an increase of 3.0 per cent from 101.2 to 104.2 when compared to the same month in 2010 and increased by 0.1 per cent when compared with November 2011, the Statistics Department in its latest release yesterday.

The index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food for December 2011 showed increases of 5.1 and 2.1 per cent respectively as compared to the same month in 2010.

For the Jan-Dec 2011 period, the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food increased by 4.8 and 2.5 per cent respectively.

Comparison made to the previous month also showed an increasing trend of 0.3 and 0.1 per cent respectively for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Non-Food.

The department said the 3.2 per cent increase in the CPI was brought about by increases observed in the indices of all the main groups except those of Communication (-0.3 per cent) and Clothing & Footwear (-0.2 per cent).

Notable increases among these main groups with high weights were Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+4.8 per cent ); Transport (+4.4 per cent) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+1.8 per cent).

Other increases were Restaurants & Hotels (+5.9 per cent); Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+4.6 per cent); Health (+2.7 per cent); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+2.4 per cent); Education (+2.2 per cent); Recreation Services & Culture (+2.0 per cent) and Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (+1.8 per cent). — Bernama