Singapore's consumer prices declined at a slightly slower pace in September compared to the previous month, a joint statement from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Monetary Authority of Singapore said Monday.
The consumer price index decreased 0.2 percent year-on-year following 0.3 percent fall in August. The decline was in line with economists' expectations.
This mainly reflected a smaller decline in private road transport cost, and to a lesser extent, higher food inflation, the ministry said.
A smaller drop in petrol prices led to private road transport cost falling by 0.4 percent, which was slower than the 1.0 percent decline in the preceding month.
Food inflation accelerated to 2.2 percent from 2.0 percent, due to a steeper rise in the cost of non-cooked food.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore's core inflation eased slightly to 0.9 percent from 1 percent, as a result of lower services inflation.
Looking ahead, the MAS expects imported inflation to rise mildly given ample supply buffers in the commodity markets and soft global demand conditions. While global oil prices are expected to increase next year from its trough this year, domestic costpressures are likely to remain muted, the central bank said.
A slackening in the labor market is expected to cap underlying wage growth, which could constrain the extent of cost pass-through to consumer prices, the MAS said.
The central bank forecast core inflation to average around 1 percent this year before rising to 1-2 percent next year, as energy related components begin to contribute positively to inflation and temporary disinflationary effects from budgetary measures fade.
However, the increase in core inflation will be gradual, given the absence ofmore generalized demand-induced price pressures, the bank added.
The CPI-All Items inflation is projected to pick up to 0.5-1.5 percent next year, from around -0.5 percent in 2016, largely reflecting the rise in private road transport cost.
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