Plateaued at 1.5% YoY in January, but food and housing costs surged on a MoM basis
The headline inflation held steady at 1.5% YoY for the third consecutive month in January, matching our house forecast but slightly lower than the market estimate of 1.6%
- Despite increases of 0.3% MoM and 0.4% MoM in the food and housing components, respectively, which are the two largest components of the CPI, the index remained relatively unchanged on a YoY basis and slowed to 0.15% (Dec: 0.23%) on a MoM basis. This could be attributed to counterbalancing factors, including the high base effect, monthly deflation in the transport and restaurant & hotel subcomponents, and zero growth in other subcomponents.
- Core inflation (1.8%; Dec: 1.9%): cooled further to its long-term average of 1.8%, however, core prices accelerated by 0.3% MoM after three consecutive months of 0.0% growth.
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