THE Consumer Price Index (CPI) for March 2023 eased to 3.4% with the index point recorded at 129.9 against 125.6 in the same month of the previous year.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the slower inflation was mainly driven by the decrease in the price of unleaded petrol RON97, which eased the inflation of the transport group to 2.4%.

“This was in line with the downward trend of Brent crude oil price, which was at US$78.53 (RM348.36) per barrel during March 2023 from US$115.59 in March 2022,” he said in a statement today.

Nevertheless, he said inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages (6.9%), as well as restaurants and hotels (7.2%) remained high even though it was lower than in February 2023.

The weight for the food and non-alcoholic beverages group (29.5%); transport (14.6%), as well as restaurants and hotels (2.9%) comprise 47% of the total weight for CPI which have a significant impact on the inflation rate and the cost of living.

Apart from that, the increase in Malaysia’s inflation in March 2023 was also due to furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (3.1%); health (2.2%), as well as miscellaneous goods and services (2.1%).

“This was followed by recreation services and culture (1.9%); education (1.7%); housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.6%); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.6%), as well as clothing and footwear (0.5%).

“Meanwhile, the communication group recorded a negative 1.4%,” he said.

Mohd Uzir said the food and non-alcoholic beverages group recorded a moderate increase of 6.9% from 7% in February 2023.

He also said that out of 230 items for food and beverage items, 201 (87.4%) recorded price increases compared to March 2022.

On another note, Mohd Uzir said the CPI for the first quarter of 2023 (1Q23) inclined 3.6% compared to 1Q22. On a quarterly basis, CPI grew at 0.6%, the same rate as recorded in 4Q22.

Core inflation, which measures changes in the prices of all goods and services, excluding volatile prices of fresh food, as well as administered prices of goods by the government, still registered a higher increase of 3.8% from 3.9% in February 2023.

“The increase was mainly due to the food and non-alcoholic beverages group that recorded 7.5%.

“In addition, the restaurants and hotels group also recorded an increase of 7.2%, followed by transport (5.7%),” he said.

He said the monthly headline inflation in March 2023 increased marginally at 0.1% compared to February 2023.

This was mainly contributed by restaurants and hotels (0.3%), while furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance; education as well as miscellaneous goods and services increased by 0.2% respectively.

In comparison to selected countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Mohd Uzir said the inflation rate in Malaysia (3.4%) was lower than the inflation in South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines. ― Bernama