S'pore's Feb CPI rises 0.2% from Jan

Singapore's consumer prices rose an expected seasonally adjusted 0.2 per cent in February from January, Government data showed on Monday, while annual inflation edged lower from a 25-year high seen the previous month.

From a year earlier, prices rose 6.5 per cent in February - off January's 6.6 per cent - reflecting higher costs for housing, food, transport and communication, the Department of Statistics said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the Trade Ministry said it was keeping its 2008 inflation forecast of 4.5-5.5 per cent.

'The underlying inflation momentum is expected to decline during the course of the year,' the ministry said.

Most economists had expected annual consumer prices to stay around 6.5 per cent in February as strong demand during the Lunar New Year holiday supported food and clothing prices.

Central banks across the world from China to the United States are fighting rising inflation as higher oil and commodity costs push up consumer prices.

A sub-index for housing costs jumped 8.8 per cent in February from a year ago while food prices, which carry the largest weighting in the index, rose 6.7 per cent.

The statement does not include seasonally adjusted figures for the sub-indices.