SINGAPORE – Consumer prices dipped further last month when private road transport costs saw a sharper decline while services fees also increased at a slower pace, according to the latest official data on inflation.

All-items inflation rate for August slows for the third consecutive month to 0.9 per cent following July’s 1.2 per cent, hitting the lowest point since February this year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry said today (Sept 23) when releasing last month’s Consumer Price Index (CPI).

This comes as lower certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums led to a 2.9 per cent fall in private road transport costs. Other contributors to the lower inflation last month include accommodation and food costs, with the soft rental market in August leading to a 0.2 per cent decline in accommodation costs. Food inflation slowed from July’s 3 per cent to 2.9 per cent in August.

Meanwhile, “services inflation edged to 2.1 per cent in August from 2.5 per cent in the preceding month, led by more modest increases in the costs of recreation and entertainment and holiday travel,” MAS and MTI added in their joint statement.

As a result of the more moderate jump in services costs, core inflation – which excludes accommodation and private road transport costs – also eased slightly to 2.1 per cent in Augusts, down from 2.2 per cent in July.

Despite the moderate inflation rate in recent months, the government is maintaining its forecast for a 1.5-2 per cent all-items inflation rate and a 2-3 per cent core inflation rate for 2014, citing persistent domestic cost pressures stemmed from the tight labour market as a concern.