Singapore households' inflation expectations inch up in March: survey

SINGAPORE households' "one-year-ahead" inflation expectations crept up to 2.79 per cent in March this year from 2.74 per cent in December 2015, according to the findings of the latest Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx) - a quarterly survey by the Singapore Management University.

December's reading of 2.74 per cent was the lowest since the start of the SInDEx survey in 2011.

In contrast, the mean "one-year-ahead" inflation rate inched down to 2.94 per cent in the latest survey - its first sub-3 per cent rate - compared to 3.01 per cent in the December 2015 survey.

Said SMU on Monday: "Compared to the historical (since September 2011) median headline inflation expectations average of 3.64 per cent and the more recent first quarter average of 2.83 per cent, the current one-year-ahead median headline inflation is still slightly lower.

"Despite the uncertain and weak global growth climate, Singapore households surveyed believe that One-year-Ahead expected price changes seem to have flattened somewhat compared to a year ago."

The findings are derived from an online survey of around 500 randomly selected individuals, representing a cross-section of Singapore households. The latest SInDEx survey was conducted last month, and was the 19th wave of the poll.