ID :
196257
Thu, 07/21/2011 - 12:34
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https://oananews.org//node/196257
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SINGAPORE REVISES INFLATION FORECAST UPWARDS
By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah
SINGAPORE, July 21 (Bernama) -- Singapore's headline inflation for 2011 is now expected to be between four and five per cent, but the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) forecast for core inflation remains unchanged.
MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon said headline inflation had probably peaked two months ago.
"This remains technically correct but less clearly so in substance," he told reporters after the release of MAS Annual Report 2010/11 here Thursday.
He said inflation had eased from 5.5 per cent in January to 4.5 per cent in April-May but it was expected to creep back up to slightly above five per cent for the next couple of months before slowly trending down towards end of the year.
"Therefore for 2011 as a whole, we are revising CPI inflation forecast to between four and five per cent, up from between three and four per cent," he said.
Compared to headline inflation, core inflation was much lower at 2.2 per cent in April-May.
This reflects in part MAS' pre-emptive tightening of monetary policy in April and October last year, which has helped dampen some cost increases.
Menon said a stronger Singapore dollar had also helped, not just by
filtering oil and food price increases, but also providing a restraining effect on the economy.
"The strong exchange rate has capped upward pressure on prices," he said adding that for the whole of 2011, MAS' projection for core inflation remained unchanged at between two and three per cent.
Headline inflation is a measure of the total inflation within an economy and is affected by areas of the market which may experience sudden inflationary spikes such as food or energy.
As a result, headline inflation may not present an accurate picture of the current state of the economy. This differs from core inflation, also called underlying inflation, which excludes factors such as food and energy costs.
SINGAPORE, July 21 (Bernama) -- Singapore's headline inflation for 2011 is now expected to be between four and five per cent, but the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) forecast for core inflation remains unchanged.
MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon said headline inflation had probably peaked two months ago.
"This remains technically correct but less clearly so in substance," he told reporters after the release of MAS Annual Report 2010/11 here Thursday.
He said inflation had eased from 5.5 per cent in January to 4.5 per cent in April-May but it was expected to creep back up to slightly above five per cent for the next couple of months before slowly trending down towards end of the year.
"Therefore for 2011 as a whole, we are revising CPI inflation forecast to between four and five per cent, up from between three and four per cent," he said.
Compared to headline inflation, core inflation was much lower at 2.2 per cent in April-May.
This reflects in part MAS' pre-emptive tightening of monetary policy in April and October last year, which has helped dampen some cost increases.
Menon said a stronger Singapore dollar had also helped, not just by
filtering oil and food price increases, but also providing a restraining effect on the economy.
"The strong exchange rate has capped upward pressure on prices," he said adding that for the whole of 2011, MAS' projection for core inflation remained unchanged at between two and three per cent.
Headline inflation is a measure of the total inflation within an economy and is affected by areas of the market which may experience sudden inflationary spikes such as food or energy.
As a result, headline inflation may not present an accurate picture of the current state of the economy. This differs from core inflation, also called underlying inflation, which excludes factors such as food and energy costs.
