KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's consumer price index rose 0.2pc in April from a year earlier, matching the pace in March, government data showed on Friday.
April's annual inflation rate was below the 0.4pc forecast in a Reuters poll.
Inflation has been mild since the government scrapped an unpopular consumption tax in June 2018, while transport costs have fallen amid lower global oil prices.
The main upward pressure on April inflation rate came from higher prices of housing and utilities, education, food and beverages, restaurants and hotels, data from the Statistics Department showed.
Costs were down across all other sectors with the biggest declines seen in the indexes for transport and miscellaneous goods and services, the data showed.
Earlier this month, the central bank cut its key interest rate for the first time since 2016, amid weak inflation and concerns over slowing economic growth.
The central bank has said, however, that Malaysia did not face serious deflationary pressures. Headline inflation, which came in at 1pc in 2018, was likely to average higher this year, Bank Negara Malaysia has said.
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