Malaysia's inflation rose by 2.5 percent, driven by the rising food and fuel price in 2021(Photo: themalaysianreserve.com)ChiefStatistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said 184 food items of the overall 552 itemsin the Consumer Price Index (CPI) “basket” recorded an increase.
He said theincrease was also higher as compared with 0.7 percent recorded during thepre-pandemic year of 2019.
The COVID-19pandemic has affected the daily lives of the community. However, vaccinationprogrammes have helped restore business confidence and further increaseconsumer confidence to go out shopping, Mohd Uzir said in a statement followingthe release of the Analysis of Annual CPI, 2021 report on June 1.
The reportcontains a detailed analysis of the inflation time series from 2010 to 2021 by12 main groups of goods and services.
Overall, the2.5 percent increase was contributed by the index of transport (11 percent),food and beverages (1.7 percent), furnishings, household equipment and routinehousehold maintenance (1.6 percent) and housing, water, electricity, gas andother fuels (1.5 percent) which contributed 72 percent to the total CPI weight,he said.
The increasein global commodities prices had impacted the food inflation. The rise ofchicken prices above the 2020 average price was due to the rise of price ofanimal feedstuff, Mohd Uzir said.
He said thelack of import supply, movement control orders (MCOs), as well as the closureof the national border, have influenced the fluctuation of prices in the localmarket./.
VNA
