Singapore’s core, headline inflation moderate slightly in September to come in under consensus estimates

In September, Singapore's core inflation rate moderated slightly, coming in at 2% compared to 2.2% in August. This figure was lower than the 2.3% median estimate from private sector economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Headline inflation also decreased slightly, reaching 2.2% in September, down from 2.3% in August, as predicted by the Bloomberg consensus estimate.

Among the various components of inflation, services and retail goods prices saw a decrease, while private transport inflation also dropped. On a month-on-month basis, core prices rose by 0.1%, and the overall consumer price index increased by 0.2%. Despite recent challenges, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Energy, Trade, and Industry anticipate that imported cost pressures will persist in the short term, with energy commodity prices remaining high due to geopolitical factors.

However, they expect imported inflation to ease over the next year as temporary disruptions subside. Domestically, the authorities believe that price pressures should stay moderate, with unit labor costs in the services sector remaining stable thanks to continued productivity gains. They also expect enhanced government subsidies in areas like healthcare and education to help curb services inflation.