Food inflation increased to a four-month high of 1.5 percent in June, from 1.3 percent in the prior month. Among food excluding food servicing services, cost went up mainly for: bread & cereals (2.1 percent vs 1 percent); meat (0.5 percent vs 0.1 percent); fish and seafood (3.5 percent vs 1.8 percent); milk, cheese & eggs (1.8 percent vs 1.3 percent); oils & fats (4.1 percent vs 3.4 percent); and fruits (1.2 percent vs 1.4 percent). By contrast, vegetables prices continued to drop (-1.5 percent vs -1.1 percent). Among food servicing services, inflation was unchanged for all categories: hawker food including food courts (at 1.6 percent); restaurant food (at 1.7 percent); fast food (at 0.1 percent); and catered food (at 0.3 percent).
Additional upward pressure came from: transport (0.3 percent vs unchanged in May) driven in particular by private road transport cost (0.4 percent vs 0.1 percent); recreation & culture (1.4 percent vs 1.2 percent) due to holiday expenses (2.4 percent vs 2.1 percent) and recreation & entertainment (0.6 percent vs 0.5 percent); education (2.9 percent, the same as in May); healthcare (2.4 percent vs 2.3 percent); miscellaneous goods & services (1.2 percent vs 1.1 percent); household durables & services (0.9 percent vs 0.8 percent); communication (0.2 percent vs -0.8 percent); and clothing & footwear (1.5 percent vs 0.6 percent).
On the other hand, housing & utilities prices fell at a softer pace (-1.8 percent vs -2 percent).
Core consumer prices, which exclude costs of accommodation and private road transport, increased by 1.7 percent in June, beating market expectations of 1.5 percent and following a 1.5 percent gain in May.
On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent in June, easing from a 0.6 percent rise a month earlier.