S\\\'pore CPI inflation eases to 2.4pc in ‘13

SINGAPORE, Jan 23 (Xinhua): Singapore's consumer price index (CPI) inflation eased from 2.6 per cent in last November to 1.5 per cent in December, which led the inflation for the whole year of 2013 to 2.4 per cent, much lower than the 4.6 per cent inflation in 2012.

The city-state's central bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and the Ministry of Trade and Industry jointly announced the data on Thursday.

The MAS said the eased inflation in December was mainly due to decline in private road transport cost, which decreased by 2.8 per cent in December, following the 3.4 per cent rise in November, on account of lower Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums.

The statement said the recent weakness in car COE premiums partly reflected a high base as premiums surged in the same period one year earlier.

The CPI figure for private road transport cost throughout the whole year was at 2.7 per cent on year.

The accommodation cost inflation reached 2.9 per cent in December, slightly lower than the 3.3 per cent increase during the previous month. The CPI figure for accommodation cost throughout the whole year was at 4.1 per cent on year.

It has been the main drive for the country's inflation for a long time. The government had announced several rounds of cooling measures to curb the soaring prices in residential property market, both in private properties and public housing, in recent years.

These measures include higher buyer's stamp duty, tighter loan- to-value limits, as well as higher minimum cash down payment for second and subsequent housing loans, etc.