Core inflation negative in Feb; MAS to release policy decision on March 30

Core inflation at -0.1% year-on-year, below economists' predictions of 0.1% and down from 0.3% in January

Janice Heng

Published Mon, Mar 23, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S core inflation turned negative in February for the first time in a decade, prompting economists to expect significant monetary easing, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) separately said that its half-yearly monetary policy decision will be released on March 30 instead of in April.

All-items or headline inflation was 0.3 per cent year-on-year, below economists' expectations of 0.4 per cent and down from 0.8 per cent in January, according to Department of Statistics consumer price index (CPI) figures on Monday.