Malaysia’s inflation rate rises 0.2pc

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia´s consumer price index in August rose 0.2 percent from a year earlier, the slowest growth in three-and-a-half years, after the removal of a 6 percent consumption tax, government data showed on Wednesday.

The annual inflation rate was below the 0.4 percent rise forecast by a Reuters poll, and was the lowest since February 2015, when it was at 0.1 percent.

In July, the rate was 0.9 percent. Inflation has been mild following the government´s withdrawal of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in June, with the annual rate falling to a previous low of 0.8 percent that month.

In August, tranport costs rose at a slower pace amid lower domestic fuel prices, with the sectoral index rising 2.1 percent from a year earlier, compared with 6.7 percent the previous month, the Statistics Department said in a statement.