Malaysia Records Highest Inflation Rate Since 2018, Expected To Get Worse Until March Next Year

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Let’s hope that this forecast would be proven wrong as a high inflation rate will make the rakyat’s life difficult in the midst of this ravaging pandemic.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) released the Consumer Price Index Malaysia for the month of April 2021 last Friday (21 May 2021) and its findings signal bad news for Malaysians. According to the report, April 2021 saw Malaysia’s inflation increase 4.7% from what it was in April 2020 – the highest year-on-year increase since 2018!

Specifically, April 2021 recorded Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 123.1 in comparison to 117.6 on the same month last year. Furthermore, DOSM chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that the increase in overall index was driven by the 27% increase in the transport index. He elaborated that the transport index increase was due to the low base effect from the preceding year.

Besides the increase in transport index, the overall CPI increase were also in part due to the increase in:

Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (3.1%).
Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (1.9%).
Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (1.6 %).
Miscellaneous Goods & Services (1.2%).

Meanwhile, the CPI for the period of January to April 2021 saw an increase of 1.6% compared to the same period in 2020. If it were to be gauged in a monthly basis, the CPI saw an increase of 0.2% when compared to March 2021. For this particular increase, it was contributed to the below indexes:

Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (0.3%).
Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (0.3%).
Recreation Services & Culture (0.2%).
Restaurants & Hotels (0.2%).
Education (0.2%).
Transport (0.1%).
Miscellaneous Goods & Services (0.1%).

Worryingly, this inflation increase is expected to steadily get worse. As reported by The Edge Markets, Datuk Seri Dr Muhd Uzir Mahidin stressed that the trend of inflation increase will continue up until the first quarter of 2022.

Furthermore, he also clarified that housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose 3.1% compared to 2020 due to the termination of the electricity discount given to domestic consumers of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) in December 2020. Previously, TNB customers received bill discount under the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN) from April to December 2020.

In terms of specific Malaysian states inflation rates, a total of six states surpassed the national CPI rate of 4.7% in April 2021 as compared to the same month in 2020. These states are:

Terengganu (6.3%).
Kelantan (5.7%).
Pahang (5.6%).
Kedah & Perlis (lumped as one state) (5.1%).
Negeri Sembilan (5.0%).
Johor (4.9%).

These are indeed worrying times. Let’s hope that our economy recovers at a steady pace so that these inflation rates do not continue to rise as forecasted by DOSM. What do you guys think of these worrying statistics? Have you experienced this increased inflation rate in your daily life? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

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