COVID-19: Malaysia’s CPI Deflates by 2.9% in April 2020 Impacted by the Movement Control Order

Malaysia's consumer price index (CPI) continued to drop to a record low, dipping 2.9% year-over-year (YoY) in April 2020 to 117.6, as the movement control order (MCO) resulted in declining housing and transport costs. According to Malaysian Industrial Development Finance (MIDF), the decline in CPI in April 2020 was significantly lower than market forecast of a 1.5% YoY decline compared to April 2019.

MIDF noted that declining prices of housing and utilities, down by 2.2% YoY, as well as transport which declined 21.5% YoY, were the major contributors to the overall decline in the CPI in April 2020. However, MIDF noted Food and Beverage (F&B) inflation was maintained above 1.0% due to stockpiling of items such as rice,...