Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) has risen 1.9% on a year-on-year basis, representing a rise for the third consecutive month this year. This was due to an increase in food and car prices, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry today.
Housing
Accommodation cost increased at 2.6% in July, from 4.8% in June due to the disbursement of Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates for HDB households. Imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation (OOA) also rose but at a more moderate pace.
Transportation
There is a clear uptrend in terms of rising costs in Singapore. However, in terms of doing business in Singapore, the government is making efforts to help Singapore companies, especially SMEs, cope with the situation. There is no better time than now for companies to look at ways of trimming unnecessary costs and making use of the available schemes to finetune their processes.
Private road transport cost rose 2% higher in July vis a vis the 2.1% fall in June. This was due to the pick up in car prices following the rise in COE premiums in June as well as the implementation of a new surcharge on certain cars under the Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS). Correspondingly, petrol pump prices rose due to the uptrend in global oil prices.
Services and Food
Services inflation fell to 2.5% in July, falling from 2.7% in June. This was due to smaller increases in the cost of healthcare and household services. In terms of food prices, costlier non-cooked food items resulted in an increase of 2.1% in July, up from 2% in June.
Commenting on the inflation, Ms. Christine Lim, General Manager of Rikvin said, “There is a clear uptrend in terms of rising costs in Singapore. However, in terms of doing business in Singapore, the government is making efforts to help Singapore companies, especially SMEs, cope with the situation. There is no better time than now for companies to look at ways of trimming unnecessary costs and making use of the available schemes to finetune their processes.”
To learn more about the available government schemes, please visit our Singapore Government Financing Schemes page.
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