Malaysia April Inflation Likely Eased From Eight-Year High

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia--Malaysia's inflation in April likely eased from an eight-year high of 5.1% the previous month, according to a survey of economists this week.

The consumer-price index, the country's main inflation gauge, is expected to have risen 4.6% in April from a year earlier, according to the median forecast of 11 economists surveyed in a Wall Street Journal poll, due to moderating fuel and food prices domestically.

The expectation is in line with the Malaysian central bank's projections that inflation will likely moderate after accelerating 4.3% in the first quarter.

Bank Negara Malaysia said in March that inflation was projected to trend higher at 3.0%-4.0% this year, compared with 2.1% in 2016, mainly because of the pass-through effect of higher global oil prices on domestic retail-fuel prices.

The central bank said, however, that cost-driven inflation was unlikely to have a significant effect on broader price trends. It said it expects core inflation to rise modestly.

The official April inflation data is due Wednesday at 0400 GMT.

Write to Yantoultra Ngui at yantoultra.ngui@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 15, 2017 23:58 ET (03:58 GMT)