The sovereign island nation of Singapore continues to be under pressure from inflation that has added to the anxiety of monetary policymakers after it hit a 14-year high last month.
According to data published by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the country's Ministry of Trade and Industry, core inflation for July reached a reading of 4.8% compared to a year ago.
It was the highest level since November 2008 and exceeded the median estimate of 4.7% set by analysts.
In addition, Singapore's consumer price index (CPI) reading rose to 7% from last month's 6.7%.
Commenting on MAS, they expect core inflation to peak in the 3rd quarter (Q3) before easing slightly towards the end of the year and project a 3-fold tightening policy announcement at the October meeting.
The matter is also supported by Bloomberg economists who expect core price growth to peak in Q3 while core inflation will start to ease in Q4.
Meanwhile, analyst Tamara Henderson said MAS remains under pressure after the July CPI which increased by 0.9 percentage points from June will see the need for aggressive tightening in October.
This was also supported by Barclays Plc and Nomura Holdings Inc analysts on the outlook for the October meeting.
The overall inflation situation in Singapore is as follows:
Transportation prices rose to the highest level since July 1980.
Food prices soared to surpass the November 2008 reading.
The value of frozen poultry recorded a record high of 33.6%.
Electricity and gas prices hit new highs while housing and utility inflation has been on the rise since December 2012.
On a monthly basis, the core CPI jumped 0.6% while the CPI for all items grew 0.2%.
