Bank Negara Malaysia’s records show headline inflation was unchanged at 1.8% in December (November: 1.8%).
This said the prices of goods does not seem to follow the actual inflation rate as reported by the authorities.
Instead, they are on the rise, as we said in an earlier article.
A fresh graduate with a large amount of student loans would only make about RM 2,500 a month. This, of course is the average in Malaysia.
The average rent for a home would be about rm1000 in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
The question is how is someone going to survive with only RM 2,500 for housing, transportation, food, electricity, water and leisure?
The Independent asked Malaysian economist professor Ramon Navaratnam to give us an insight of the inflationary rate in Malaysia, and why consumer prices on the street seems to be higher than expected.
“The consumer price Index is an average of all prices and thus covers a lot is sins!” he said in an email exchange.
He however, added that collection of real prices could also be faulty, and that could be the reason for the gross disparity seen between the inflation rate and the real-time cost of goods.
“Prices are higher than official stats,” he remarked.
Some might say that as a fresh graduate, he or she should just stay with their parents or share the rent with other people, but at the age of 23 or 24, in other countries that are developed, they would be already living on their own fully independent due to the amount of money they make.