Malaysia's Feb CPI up 1.3% on year, below forecast

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's February consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.3 per cent from a year earlier, slowing from the previous month, government data showed on Wednesday.

The annual inflation rate was slightly lower than the 1.4 per cent pace forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.

The index rose 1.6 per cent in January, the fastest since May 2018 when it increased 1.8 per cent.

Inflation in February was driven by increases in all but one of the 12 sectors tracked, notably for miscellaneous goods and services and transport, data from the Statistics Department showed. The index declined for the clothing and footwear sector.

Malaysia's central bank said in February headline inflation was expected to remain modest in 2020, though higher than the previous year. 

REUTERS