Channelnewsasia.com previously reported that "Singapore's annual inflation rate hit a 25-year high of 6.6 percent in January (2008)..." and that was according to official data from Department of Statistics (DOS).

I checked the recently released DOS figures for February 2008. The inflation rate was 6.5%. Contributing the most to the still very high figure are housing (8.8%), transport & communication (7.6%) and food (6.7%).

The price of rice is also set to rise. And rise fast, perhaps. Maybe that's why the government has repeatedly assured us that there is enough stock for all. "3 months at least," I heard a Minister of State say on TV.

The message is: we should not hoard rice, to avoid artificially inflating the price.

But the repeated assurances seem to make some people buy more rice!

ST reported that "Checks at supermarkets yesterday (i.e. April 3) showed that many people were not yet heeding the advice to stay calm and were buying more than usual." Also, check out these comments at StraitsTimes.com.

I then looked at the earnings growth reported in the Labour Market Report from MOM. Nominal earnings grew by 6.2% in 2007. After adjusting for inflation, the real earnings growth was 4.0%.

I'm not exactly sure how the adjustment works. But I hope it means that even with the highest inflation in years, we're generally still making enough to get by...

Was your salary increment sufficient to overcome inflation?

http://www.salary.sg/2008/can-your-i...eat-inflation/