Malaysia Inflation Steady At 1.5%

(RTTNews) - Malaysia's consumer price inflation remained stable for the second straight month in January, data from the Department of Statistics showed on Friday.

The consumer price index, or CPI, climbed 1.5 percent year-on-year in January, the same rate of increase as in the previous two months. Meanwhile, economists had expected inflation to rise slightly to 1.6 percent.

Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages grew at a slower pace of 2.0 percent in January versus a 2.3 percent gain a month ago.

Charges for restaurants and hotels were 3.2 percent more expensive compared to last year, and health costs rose 2.4 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased at stable rate of 0.2 percent at the start of the first quarter.

Data also showed that core inflation stood at 1.8 percent in December, down slightly from 1.9 percent in the prior month.

Separate official data showed that the leading index for Malaysia, which measures future economic activity, improved to 110.1 in December from 109.8 in November.

On an annual basis, the leading index rose 0.3 percent in December, in contrast to a 0.2 percent fall in the prior month.