Malaysia inflation seen easing to 1.8% y-o-y in June: poll

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's annual inflation rate in June is expected to have cooled for a fourth consecutive month to 1.8 per cent, as oil prices remained weak, a Reuters poll showed.

Low transport costs kept inflation in check despite higher prices of food during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, economists said.

In May, the consumer price index rose 2 per cent from a year earlier, slightly down from the previous month's pace of 2.1 per cent.

Annual inflation hit a seven-year peak of 4.2 per cent in February, but has since moderated as the effects of a six per cent Goods and Services Tax implemented in April 2015 fade.

Malaysia's central bank last week cut its projection for 2016 inflation to 2-3 per cent from 2.5-3.5 per cent.

REUTERS