PUTRAJAYA AUG.25- The monthly electricity bill discount given to domestic consumers under the Perlindungan Rakyat dan Pemulihan Ekonomi (PEMULIH) Package for three months effective July 1,2021 is among the reasons for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) being moderated by 2.2 per cent in July to 122.5 as against 119.9 in the same month of the preceding year.
Nevertheless, the CPI remained on the positive territory as there were increases in the petrol and diesel prices in July 2021 as compared to a year ago.
Chief Statistician Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr. Mohd. Uzir Mahidin said, the CPI remained positive for the sixth consecutive months since February 2021 due to the lower base effect last year. The increase was mainly driven by a double-digit increase of 11.6 per cent in the transport group due to the setting of the RON95 petrol ceiling price to RM2.05 per litre since March as compared to the average price of RM1.69 in July 2020.
He said, this was followed by furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (1.7%); food & non-alcoholic beverages (1.3%) and housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (0.7%).
Meanwhile, the CPI for the period of January to July 2021 increased 2.3 per cent as compared to the same period last year. On a monthly basis, CPI decreased by 0.6 per cent as compared to June 2021. The decrease was attributed to the negative rate of housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (-2.5%) and alcoholic beverages & tobacco (-0.1%).
“Core index rose 0.7 per cent in July 2021 as compared to the same month of the previous year. Among the major groups which influenced the increase were furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (1.7%); food & non-alcoholic beverages (1.1%); transport (1.0%); restaurants & hotels (0.7%); housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (0.6%); recreation services & culture (0.6%); health (0.4%); education (0.1%) and miscellaneous goods & services (0.1%),” Mohd. Uzir said.
He added core index covers all goods and services except volatile items of fresh food as well as administered prices. The CPI without fuel increased 0.8 per cent in July 2021 to 113.2 as compared to 112.3 in the same month of the preceding year.
The CPI without fuel covers all goods and services except unleaded petrol RON95, unleaded petrol RON97 and diesel.
“Five states namely Terengganu (2.8%), Pahang (2.5%), Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (2.4%), Kelantan (2.4%) and Sarawak (2.3%) surpassed the national CPI rate of 2.2 per cent in July 2021 as compared to the same month of the previous year,” he said.
Mohd. Uzir added, all states registered an increase in the index of food & non-alcoholic beverages. The highest increase was recorded by Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (2.0%). Meanwhile, other states showed an increase below the national index of food & non-alcoholic beverages rate of 1.3 per cent in July 2021 as compared to July 2020. –Malaysia World News
