CPI for June surges to 7.7% - The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Jul 23, 2008

The consumer price index for June surged 7.7% on-year and also recorded a 3.9% increase on-month, fuelled by the substantial rise in the price of petrol and diesel.

The Statistics Department said Wednesday the CPI for January to June increased by 3.7% to 109.0 compared with that of 105.1 in the previous corresponding period.

“Compared with that of the same month in 2007, the CPI increased by 7.7% from 105.3 to 113.4 and when compared with the previous month, the CPI increased by 3.9%,” it said.

The department said the main reason for this increase was the substantial rise in the price of petrol and diesel announced by the government commencing on June 5. The index for food and non-alcoholic beverages for June compared to the same month in 2007 showed high percentage change of 10.0%; meanwhile the index for non-Food increased by 6.7%.

It said for January to June, there were increases in the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages of 6.1% and non-food 2.6%.

Compared to the previous month, it said the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 2% while the index for non-food increased to 4.9%.