Singapore’s headline inflation rate rose to 0.6% year-on-year in June 2018 from 0.4% in the previous month, its highest in seven months, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Ministry of Trade and Industry announced on Monday, CNA reported. June’s rate—the highest since November last year, which also saw a rise to 0.6%—was largely due to higher food and services inflation. Food inflation rose to 1.5% in June from 1.3% in May, as a faster pace of increase in the prices of non-cooked food items more than offset a slower pace of increase in the prices of prepared meals, said the two bodies. Services inflation edged up to 1.7% in June from 1.6% in the previous month, largely due to a stronger pick-up in holiday expenses as well as a rise in telecommunications services fees following the year-ago decline in May. In addition, the overall cost of retail items increased by 1.6% in June, larger than the 1.3% rise in May.
