Reuters - Monday, January 14
S'pore Lunar New Year festive food costs seen rising
SINGAPORE, Jan 14 - Prices of Lunar New Year festive food may cost up to 20 percent more in Singapore this year compared with a year ago, the Straits Times newspaper said, a move that will fuel the city-state's 25-year high inflation.
Retailers are set to raise the prices of festive biscuits and fruits such as pineapple tarts and mandarin oranges by between 10-20 percent due to higher oil and commodity prices, the newspaper said on Monday.
"The prices have gone up for everything - oil, sugar, butter. And flour - that is the worst," Andrew Chin, managing director of snack and beverage maker Glory Food Products, was quoted as saying.
The Lunar New Year is a major festival in Singapore, celebrated by the city state's majority ethnic Chinese population.
Higher oil and commodity prices have fueled inflation worldwide from the United States to Hong Kong. In Singapore, rising costs for food and housing pushed consumer prices to a 25-year high in November.
The price of a 25 kilogram bag of flour has jumped by about 50 percent to S$30.90 from S$20.40 in August, Png Geo Lian, chairman of the Association of Chinese Wheat Flour Merchants of Singapore was quoted as saying.
To rein in higher prices, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, its central bank, tightened monetary policy in October to let the Singapore dollar climb faster.
However, the central bank now faces the task of balancing higher consumer prices with the potentially devastating effects of an economic slump in the United States this year.
it's expected one wat.
fer wat they make a big hoo ha.
they make it sound as if they juz arrived on earth liddat.