FEBRUARY'S consumer price index (CPI) increased by 5.0 per cent compared to a year earlier, reflecting higher costs of transport, housing and food, the Department of Statistics Singapore said on Wednesday.
Transport costs rose 15.2 per cent due to higher car and petrol prices. Housing costs rose by 5.8 per cent, which Singstat said arose largely from higher accommodation and electricity tariffs.
Food costs rose 2.6 per cent as well, owing to higher prices for food such as vegetables, meat and poultry, seafood and fruits. Excluding accommodation costs, the consumer price index went up by 4.5 per cent in February 2011 compared with a year ago.
The consumer price index in January-February 2011 was 5.2 per cent higher compared with the same period of the previous year, Singstat added.
In February 2011, the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) core inflation measure (which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport) rose to 0.3 per cent on a month-on-month basis.
On a year-on-year basis, the MAS core inflation measure moderated to 1.8 per cent, from 2.0 per cent in January 2011.
-- ST