| Associated
Press July 23, 2009 SINGAPORE By ALEX KENNEDY SINGAPORE'S consumer prices fell in June as a steep drop in crude oil reduced transportation costs and helped trigger a third month of deflation. The consumer price index fell 0.5 percent in the 12 months through June after a 0.3 percent drop in the 12 months to May, the statistics department said Thursday. Compared to May, June's CPI also slipped 0.5 percent. Singapore slightly raised its 2009 inflation forecast last week as its economy emerges from a year-long recession. The central bank now expects inflation between 0.5 percent and a drop of 0.5 percent. Its previous forecast was a range of no change in prices and a drop of 1 percent. Transport and communication prices in June dropped 4.7 percent from a year earlier, housing fell 0.7 percent and recreation slid 0.6 percent. Inflation has slowed from a 26-year high in June 2008 of 7.5 percent. Crude oil prices fell to below $35 a barrel in March from a record $147 last July before rising above $70 earlier this month. |
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