Malaysia Inflation Remains Stable At 1.6%

(RTTNews) - Malaysia's consumer price inflation held steady in January after rising in the previous two months, data from the Department of Statistics showed on Thursday.

The consumer price index posted an annual increase of 1.6 percent, the same as in December.

Core inflation that excludes volatile prices of items for fresh food as well as administered prices of goods by the government also remained stable at 2.3 percent.

Prices for food and beverages rose at a stable rate of 1.5 percent, and clothing and footwear prices remained flat. Meanwhile, inflation based on housing and utilities rose to 1.2 percent from 0.9 percent, and transportation costs were 0.7 percent less expensive.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent in January after rising 0.3 percent in the prior month.