Singapore Nov Consumer Prices Rise at Quickest Pace in Over Eight Years

By Ronnie Harui

SINGAPORE--Singapore's consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than eight years in November, mainly owing to a surge in transport prices.

The consumer-price index climbed 3.8% in November from a year earlier, the Department of Statistics said Thursday. The reading was the highest since February 2013, when the CPI rose 4.9%.

The median estimate from a Wall Street Journal survey of seven economists was for a 3.4% on-year increase in November. The city-state's CPI rose 3.2% in October.

The cost of transportation, which has an index weighting of 17.07%, climbed 14.2% on year in November. Food prices, which have a 21.10% weighting, rose 1.9%, while housing and utilities costs, which make up 24.84% of the index, rose 3.1%, the data showed.

Core CPI, which strips out private road transport and accommodation costs, rose 1.6% in November from a year earlier, following a 1.5% increase in October. The median estimate from six economists in the WSJ survey was for a 1.5% on-year rise in November.

Write to Ronnie Harui at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-23-21 0014ET