SINGAPORE: Singapore's October consumer prices rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier after an increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), government data showed on Friday.

The October consumer price index, or CPI, rose a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent from September, the Department of Statistics said in a statement.

It said that inflation averaged 1.6 percent in the first 10 months of the year and that the figures partly reflected a 2 percentage point rise in the GST to 7 percent on July 1.

Annual inflation in October rose on higher costs for food, and transport and communication.

A sub-index for food, which at 23 percent has the largest weighting in the overall index, rose 4.3 percent in October from a year ago, while transport and communication, the second-biggest component in the index, climbed 4.3 percent.

Month-on-month, housing cost increased by 2.7 percent from September, due in part to higher electricity tariffs and higher accommodation costs for both rented and owner-occupied accommodation.

Transport and communication costs went up by 2.3 percent as a result of higher
prices of cars, petrol and increased bus fares.

Food prices rose by 0.5 percent, reflecting dearer cooked food, fresh poultry, bread and milk products. - CNA/ir