Inflation expectations at 3.5-year low

The findings to SMU’s latest Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx), which were released on April 20, revealed that Singapore consumer prices in the year ahead are expected to climb at their slowest pace in three-and-a-half years. The survey, published ahead of the April 23 release of inflation data for March, polled a total of 500 consumers randomly selected from a cross section of Singapore households. The respondents expected consumer prices to rise 3.05 per cent in the year ahead, the lowest headline inflation expectation reading since the survey was launched in September 2011. SMU Assistant Professor of Finance Aurobindo Ghosh said: “Domestic factors such as the impending supply glut in COE quotas and upcoming additional supply of accommodation, lower than expected pass-through costs despite the tight labour market, and medical subsidies have brought down the inflation expectations by Singaporeans in the current quarterly SInDEx survey.”