PETALING JAYA: Consumer prices rose for a second consecutive month in March, with 338 of the 552 items covered in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) costing more.
The price of 141 items declined, while 73 items remained unchanged.
In a statement, the Statistics Department said the CPI rose by 1.7% in March to 122.9 compared with the corresponding month last year (120.9). On a month-to-month basis, the CPI increased 0.3% from February.
“The increase in the overall index was driven by the index for transport (9.8%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.5%), miscellaneous goods and services (1%), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (0.9%), alcohol beverages and tobacco (0.6%), health (0.5%) and recreation services and culture (0.5%),” said chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
Five states – Terengganu (2.8%), Kelantan (2.3%), Selangor and Putrajaya (1.9%), Pahang (1.9%) and Negeri Sembilan (1.8%) – surpassed the national CPI rate of 1.7% in March compared to the same month last year.
All states registered an increase in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages. The highest increase was recorded by Selangor and Putrajaya 2.2%
This was followed by Terengganu (2%), Pahang (1.9%), Kelantan (1.8%) and Perak (1.7%).
The items which declined included housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.8%), and clothing and footwear (-0.3%). - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.