S'pore inflation up by 3.7%

SINGAPORE'S inflation climbed to a 20-month high of by 3.7 per cent in September from a year ago, due to higher transport, housing and food costs.

Higher prices of cars and car insurance premium contributed to the year-on-year 9.1 per cent rise in the cost of transport.

Housing cost went up by 4.7 per cent, resulting from higher accommodation costs and electricity tariffs, while food prices rose by 1.7 per cent. Excluding accommodation costs, the consumer price index was 3.8 per cent higher in September compared with a year ago.

All this could push Singapore's inflation rate to around 4 per cent by the end of this year and stay high in the first half of next year, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) earlier this month. It expects inflation to be between 2.5 and 3 per cent this year and between 2 and 3 per cent next year. LINK