According to data released by the Malaysian Department of Statistics, the country’s consumer price index rose by 2.6% in September 2015, which was lower than the market forecast of 3.0% and lower than the 3.1% in August.
Malaysian economists believe that household expenditures have further pushed up prices due to the continued depreciation of the ringgit, causing Malaysia’s inflation rate to rise by 2.6% in September 2015.
Major consumer goods prices increased significantly in September, including alcoholic beverages and cigarettes (up 9.8%), miscellaneous products and services (up 5.6%), and health care (up 4.6%); other items with rising prices were restaurants and hotels (up 4.6%), non-alcoholic beverages and food (up 4.3%), furniture, household equipment and daily necessities maintenance (up 3.7%), communications (up 3.2%), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (up (up 2.7%), education (up 2.5%), leisure, services and culture (up 2.3%) and clothing and footwear (up 0.7%). The items that declined were transportation (down 3.8%).
Malaysia’s consumer price index from January to September 2015 increased by 1.9% compared with the same period in 2014. Malaysia’s consumer price index for clothing and footwear rose 0.7% in September
