Malaysia inflation jumps to 4.5%, an eight year high!

Amid the drums celebrating a good run for the Malaysian economy with exports rising slightly and gross domestic product (GDP) projected to be a little bit higher this year than projected, the government is totally silent on the sudden jump in inflation.

Inflation here accelerated to an eight-year high in February, said Nikkei Asian Review.

This was due to costlier food and retail fuel.

The consumer price index rose 4.5% in February from a year earlier, according to data released by the Department of Statistics.

Malaysia is said to have raised its inflation outlook to between 3.0% and 4.0% this year from an earlier forecast of up to 3.0% to account for higher oil prices but the central bank called it ‘modest’.

The food and non-alcoholic beverages index, which carries the highest weighting at 30.2%, climbed 4.3% from a year earlier in February, and the index for transport group that includes gasoline and diesel, surged 17.9% year-on-year, said the Statistics Department.