Malaysia's Feb inflation rate at 1.4 pct, below forecast
(Adds chart on monthly CPI percentage change)
KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Reuters) - Malaysia's consumer price
index in February rose 1.4 percent from a year
earlier, government data showed on Wednesday.
February's annual inflation rate was below the 1.9 percent
forecast in a Reuters poll, and well below the 2.7 percent
posted in January.
Inflation in February was largely driven by higher food
prices but transports costs were lower, data from the Statistics
Department showed.
Headline inflation has moderated after staying above 3
percent every month in 2017, peaking at 5.1 percent in March.
Malaysia's central bank left its key interest rate
unchanged earlier this month, after hiking it for
the first time in over three years in January, as inflationary
pressures eased.
MALAYSIA CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (base 2010) PERCENTAGE CHANGE
Feb Jan Dec Nov Oct Sept Aug July June
yr/y 1.4 2.7 3.5 3.4 3.7 4.3 3.7 3.2 3.6
r
mth/ 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.7 0.2 0.3 0.9 -0.1 -0.2
mth
February 2017 (percentage change year-on-year)
Food, non-alcoholic beverages 3.0
Alcoholic beverages, tobacco 0.1
Clothing, footwear -0.7
Housing, water, electricity, fuels 2.0
Furnishings, household equipment 2.1
Health 2.1
Transport -0.3
Communication -0.5
Recreation services, culture
Education 1.1
Restaurants, hotels 1.8
Miscellaneous goods/services 0.4
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(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Sunil Nair)