Singapore CPI Falls 1.6% On-Year in May

Singapore's consumer prices fell at a faster-than-expected pace in May, due to the drag from private road transport and housing costs. 
The consumer price index fell 1.6% year-on-year in May, compared with the median estimate for a 1.0% decline in a poll of five economists by The Wall Street Journal, and a 0.5% fall in April, according to (Dow Jones Business News).
The cost of transportation, which has an index weighting of 15.8%, fell 5.7% in May from a year earlier due to cheaper fuel prices, the data showed. 
Food prices, which have a 21.7% weighting in the index, gained 2.2% on year after rising 2.3% in April. 
The Monetary Authority of Singapore's core inflation rate, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, rose to 1.0% in May from 0.8% in the previous month on account of the pickup in services inflation. Analysts in the poll had predicted core inflation rate to rise to 1.2%.