A housewife (right) buys vegetables at a wet market in Singapore
Roslan Rahman | Afp | Getty Images
Singapore announced on Monday a weaker than expected rise in consumer prices for the month of April, at 1.8%, thanks to a weaker increase in services. inflation of retail and other goods.
Economists polled by Reuters had estimated headline inflation at 2%.
Core inflation – which does not take into account prices for private transport and accommodation – came in at 1.4%, compared to a forecast of 1.7%.
Singapore’s Commerce Ministry and its monetary authority, however, said cost pressures on the city-state’s imports were expected to deepen and widen in the coming months.“As higher costs of energy and other inputs resulting from developments in the Middle East flow through global supply chains, they will increase the costs of producing and transporting a wider range of goods and services imported from Singapore,” the authorities said in a joint statement.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore expects headline and core inflation to be between 1.5% and 2.5% for 2026.
Zavier Wong, market analyst at trading platform eToro, described the reading as “a slight positive surprise”, adding that with Middle East peace talks appearing to be progressing and the recent drop in oil prices, there is a “credible path to some reduction in import costs” later this year.
Earlier in the day, Singapore revised its first quarter GDP growth sharply higher to 6%, up from 4.6% according to advanced estimates, and above Reuters estimates of 5.1%.
The country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry said that Singapore’s annual growth will be between 2% and 4% in 2026, amid energy-related disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
The MAS in April tightened monetary policy for the first time in about three years due to the inflation outlook.
Unlike most countries, Singapore does not use interest rates to manage its monetary policy, but rather guides the Singapore dollar within a policy band against a trade-weighted basket of currencies.
The Singapore dollar is managed within a defined policy band, the precise levels of which are not disclosed.
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