Malaysia inflation seen picking up to 1.7% y-o-y in September: poll

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's annual inflation rate in September likely was 1.7 per cent, a Reuters poll showed, slightly faster than the previous month's pace.

Low fuel prices kept inflation in check despite higher prices of food, economists said.

In August, the consumer price index rose 1.5 per cent from a year earlier, the first increase in the inflation rate after five months of slowing.

Annual inflation reached a seven-year peak of 4.2 per cent in February, but then moderated as the effects of a goods and services tax imposed in April 2015 faded.

In July, Malaysia's central bank cut its inflation projection for the year to 2-3 per cent from 2.5-3.5 per cent.

REUTERS