MALAYSIA'S INFLATION TO REMAIN LOW, STABLE AHEAD -- MBSB IB

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s inflation is expected to remain low and stable moving forward, although the expanded sales and service tax (SST) may introduce modest upward pressure, said MBSB Investment Bank Bhd (MBSB IB).

This could be partially offset by the continuation of the RON95 subsidy, a firmer ringgit and easing global food prices, it added.

However, the investment bank cautioned about potential upside risks to inflation arising from the exclusion of micro, small and medium enterprises from the BUDI95 targeted fuel subsidy, as higher fuel costs may be passed on to consumer prices, it said in a note today.

Malaysia’s producer price index (PPI) eased further by 1.8 per cent in November 2025 from a 0.1 per cent decrease in October 2025, marking the steepest decline since August 2025 and extending a nine-month streak of deflation, it said. 

MBSB IB noted that the decline was largely reflected in a sharp decline in prices for the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector by 9.7 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y), weighed down by the falling prices for the growing of perennial crops index by 16.2 per cent y-o-y. 

The PPI deflation in the mining sector also fell steeper by 7.2 per cent y-o-y, dragged down by the extraction of crude petroleum by -5.5 per cent y-o-y and natural gas by -11.4 per cent y-o-y indices.

-- BERNAMA