Singapore's consumer prices rose at a faster-than-expected rate last month on higher energy and housing costs, the government said yesterday.
The consumer price index rose 3.6 percent from a year ago after rising 2.7 percent in September, the Department of Statistics said in a statement. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast an average increase of 2.9 percent.
Rising rents and higher energy costs have become increasingly apparent in Singapore's inflation data, prompting the central bank to tighten its monetary policy last month in an attempt to control price increases.
Transport expenses were boosted last month by higher prices for gasoline and cars and by an increase in bus fares. Housing costs rose with higher rents and a rise in electricity tariffs.
Food prices were also higher, mainly due to more expensive bread, milk and poultry.
The index gained 1.3 percent in seasonally adjusted terms compared with September, surpassing a forecast of a 0.5 percent rise. In unadjusted terms, the CPI also rose 1.3 percent last month from September.
Meanwhile, China's chief statistics official said that inflation this year would reach 4.5 to 4.6 percent, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
National Bureau of Statistics Director Xie Fuzhan (謝伏瞻) made the comment in an appearance on Thursday at Beijing's Tsinghua University, Xinhua said. The forecast was in line with estimates by other officials and private economists.
Last year, China's consumer inflation rate was 2 percent.
Inflation spiked to a monthly rate of 6.5 percent last month, blamed mostly on a rise in food prices due to shortages of some items. But those shortages are expected to end soon as a new crop is harvested, and price rises for other items such as fuel have stayed low.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not