Singapore April core inflation rises 3.3%, fastest in a decade

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s key consumer price gauge rose in April at its fastest pace in a decade, driven by higher inflation for food, official data showed on Monday.

The core inflation rate — the central bank’s favoured price measure – rose to 3.3% in April on a year-on-year basis, the highest since February 2012. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a 3.4% increase.

Headline inflation rose to 5.4%, the fastest since April 2012, compared with economists’ forecast of 5.5%.

Singapore’s central bank tightened its monetary policy last month, making a double barrel move, as the city-state ramped up its battle against soaring prices made worse by the Ukraine war and global supply snags.

(Reporting by Chen Lin; Editing by Martin Petty)