Inflation expectations here at ‘lowest since late 2011’

The latest findings of SMU’s Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx), which polled 500 people online in March this year, showed that consumers now expect a headline inflation rate of 3.05 per cent for the year ahead, down from the previous survey's 3.52 per cent in December last year. This is the lowest rate recorded since the quarterly survey was started by SMU's Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics in September 2011. SMU Assistant Professor of Finance (Education) Aurobindo Ghosh said that “low oil prices and fluctuating exchange rates are probably here to stay in the medium term”. He added: “These phenomena have had a significant negative impact on expectations of inflation the world over, including the G-3 economies. Singapore is no different.”