Recently, Malaysia's Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded an increase when inflation data was announced which was 1.5% annually in November.
It was the lowest growth rate since February 2021 in line with lower price increases for the food, health, restaurant and hotel categories.
In addition, core inflation that excludes fresh food items and the price of items under government subsidies stood at 2.0% in November. Record the lowest since February 2022.
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the food and non-alcoholic beverages group also experienced a slower growth rate of 2.6% in November compared to 3.6% in October. The increase in restaurants and hotels also slowed to 4.3% from 4.6%.
Several other main groups such as water, electricity, gas and fuel also experienced an increase of 1.7% compared to 1.6% in October. Meanwhile, transportation increased by 0.1% compared to growth in October.
Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said fried chicken was one of the products that showed a significant slow increase in November based on the effects of the food industry's promotion strategy.
At the state level, inflation data still recorded an increase below the national inflation level of 1.5%.
However, there are five states that recorded an increase above the national inflation level, namely Putrajaya (2.3%), Sarawak (2.0%), Perak (1.9%), Penang (1.8%) and Selangor (1.7%).
He also said that all states in Malaysia also experienced an increase but not as significantly as these top five states. However, headline inflation remained unchanged at 0.1% in November compared to October.
