MAS Core Inflation in Singapore

Singapore's MAS Core inflation is the consumer-price measure closely tracked by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. It strips out accommodation costs and private road transport, whose prices are highly volatile or heavily shaped by public policy, in order to reflect the underlying trend in inflation.

It takes the headline CPI compiled by the Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat) and removes the accommodation and private-transport components. It is released monthly and is usually expressed as a year-on-year (YoY) change against a base year.

It is the centrepiece of Singapore's monetary policy, which the MAS runs through the exchange rate (the Singapore dollar band) rather than interest rates. A hotter-than-expected print tends to signal tighter policy and a firmer Singapore dollar.

By excluding housing and private transport it does not capture the full cost of living households face when those prices surge, so it should be read alongside headline CPI. Its particular definition differs from the standard core inflation used in other countries.