Singapore January consumer prices set to fall for third month

[SINGAPORE] Singapore's consumer price index (CPI) probably fell in January from a year earlier for the third straight month, due to lower oil prices and transportation costs, a Reuters poll showed.

The all-items consumer price index likely declined 0.3 per cent in January from a year ago, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 11 economists.

Headline CPI fell 0.2 per cent in December year-on-year and 0.3 per cent in November, the first decline in nearly five years.

The survey also showed that core consumer inflation in January probably eased to 1.3 per cent from a year earlier, the slowest pace since January 2013. In December, core inflation was 1.5 per cent, matching a 19-month low.

The January inflation data is due on Monday at 0500 GMT.

Singapore's central bank unexpectedly eased its exchange-rate based monetary policy in late January, saying a plunge in oil prices had significantly changed the city-state's inflation outlook.

REUTERS