Singapore inflation accelerates to 3.4% in February

Annual consumer inflation in Singapore picked up to 3.4% in February from a more than two-year low of 2.9% in January.

The actual figure exceeded market consensus of 3.3%.

Last month, inflation accelerated for housing (3.9% YoY versus 2.4% YoY in January), recreation & culture (5.5% YoY versus 4.4% YoY in January) and education (3.4% YoY versus 3.2% YoY).

In addition, food inflation picked up to a 3-month high of 3.8% in February from a 22-month low of 3.3% in January.

Inflation remained steady for transport, at 2.3%, health care, at 4.6%, and for miscellaneous goods & services, at 2.6%.

Meanwhile, annual core CPI inflation accelerated to a 7-month high of 3.6% in February from a 23-month low of 3.1% in January.

The Singapore Dollar was last 0.14% firmer against its US counterpart on Monday, with the USD/SGD currency pair trading at 1.3464. The exotic Forex pair has pulled back from a 6-week high of 1.3505, which it registered earlier on Monday.