30/04/2026

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | APR 30, 2026

15

National inflation moderates to 1.4% in 2025

o Stronger ringgit, fuel subsidy measures help moderate price pressures PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s inflation eased to 1.4% in 2025 with the index points increasing to 134.6 from 132.8 in the previous year. Overall, the price level of goods and services in Malaysia remained high. However, Malaysia’s inflation in 2025 moderated to 1.4% as compared to 1.8% in 2024. This was supported by the strengthening of the Malaysian Ringgit, sustained household spending and initiatives by the government to distribute RON95 petrol subsidies to Malaysians, to a certain extent, helped to curb further increases in Malaysia’s inflation. This rate is within the inflation range projected by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Finance Ministry between 1% and 2% for 2025. Chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that Malaysia’s inflation in 2025 was contributed by the inflation of housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (1.6%); health (1.2%); recreation, sports & culture (1.1%); transport (0.4%) and furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (0.2%). However, he added, personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods & services recorded a higher increase at 4.4% (2024: 3%). This was followed by insurance & financial services, 3.4% (2024: 0.3%); restaurants & accommodation services, 3.2% (2024: 3.1%); education, 2.3% (2024: 1.5%); food & beverages, 2.% (2024: 2%) and alcoholic beverages & tobacco, 0.9% (2024: 0.7%). Meanwhile, information & communication and clothing & footwear recorded a decline of negative 4.3% and negative 0.2% in 2025, respectively. The highest inflation throughout 2025 was recorded in January 2025 at 1.7% and edged down to 1.1% in June 2025. This was contributed by a slower trend in the inflation of food & beverages and housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels. Nevertheless, the inflation trend picked up in the second half of year 2025. Globally, the food price index released by the Food and Agriculture Organization recorded an increase at 4.3% in 2025, with an index point of 127.2 as compared to 122.0 in 2024. The incline was driven by an increase in the food price index of vegetable oils (17.1%); dairy products (13.1%) and meat (5.2%). Meanwhile, food & beverages group which represents the largest component of household spending in Malaysia with a contribution of 29.8% of total Consumer Price Index weight, recorded an incline to 2.1% in 2025 as compared to 2% in the preceding year.

Chu says Khazanah’s maiden tokenised sukuk reflects the growing potential of digital innovation within Malaysia’s capital market ecosystem. CIMB leads Malaysia’s first tokenised sukuk issuance KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd welcomes the successful pricing of Malaysia’s maiden tokenised sukuk by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, in collaboration with the Securities Commission Malaysia, marking an important step in the continued evolution of Malaysia’s capital markets. CIMB acted as sole principal adviser, sole lead arranger and sole facility agent for the tokenised sukuk pilot, supporting end-to-end issuance process and contributing to the alignment of operational, technical and governance workflows required for a tokenised structure. CIMB Group wholesale banking CEO Chu Kok Wei said “Khazanah’s inaugural tokenised sukuk represents an important step forward in advancing the practical application of within a controlled and credible framework. It demonstrates how digital capabilities can be explored within existing capital market structures in a disciplined manner, while remaining aligned with established market practices. We are focused on supporting this milestone by working closely with regulators and partners to ensure that emerging structures are operationally sound, scalable and aligned with market expectations. This is consistent with our Forward30 strategy, where we aim to deliver solutions that are simpler, better and faster for our clients.” CIMB said it will continue to collaborate with key stakeholders, including regulators and industry partners, to support the responsible development of tokenised financial solutions and the broader digitalisation of financial markets.

Meanwhile, Kelantan recorded the lowest increase at 0.3%. In comparison to inflation in other selected countries, the inflation rate in Asean countries ranged from negative 0.3% to 7.7% in 2025. Lao PDR recorded the highest inflation at 7.7%, while Brunei Darussalam recorded the lowest inflation at negative 0.3%. Besides, other four countries registered an inflation rate higher than Malaysia (1.4%) namely Vietnam (3.3%), Cambodia (2.5%), Indonesia (1.9%) and Philippines (1.7%). Meanwhile, Singapore (0.9%), Timor-Leste (0.5%), Thailand (-0.1%) and Brunei Darussalam (-0.3%) recorded inflation rates lower than Malaysia.

The increase of this group was largely due to the subgroup of food away from home which recorded an increase of 4% as compared to 2024 (3.6%). In addition, inflation for the subgroup of food at home recorded 0.1% as against 0.6% (2024) to a certain extent eased this group inflation from increasing further. Inflation for housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels eased to 1.6% in 2025 as compared to 2024 (3%). Mohd Uzir said at the state level, most states registered a slower increase in inflation, with four states exceeding the national inflation rate of 1.4% in 2025, namely Johor (2%), Selangor (1.7%), Negeri Sembilan (1.7%) and Malacca (1.5%). the nine-month period ended Feb 28, 2026 (9M’26), which increased 15.5% to RM146.5 million from RM126.8 million in the prior year. For 9M’26, Malaysia operations continued to be the group’s largest revenue segment, rising 20.5% to RM133.4 million from RM110.7 million in the same period last year, with growth recorded in both local and foreign segments. Revenue from local patients in Malaysia operations grew 32.3% to RM42 million in 9M’26 from RM31.8 million previously, while revenue from foreign patients increased 15.7% to RM91.2 million from RM78.9 million. Net profit for 9M’26 however, eased marginally to RM39.7 million from RM41.4

Alpha IVF Group net profit rises to RM12.5m in Q3’26 KUALA LUMPUR: Fertility care specialist, Alpha IVF Group Bhd delivered a net profit of RM12.5 million in the third quarter ended Feb 28, 2026 (Q3’26) from RM11.9 million in the same quarter last year, demonstrating resilient earnings performance despite the period typically being a seasonally weak quarter and ongoing expansion costs. million in the prior year, mainly due to continued investments in expansion and operational growth initiatives. Group managing director Datuk Dr Colin Lee Soon Soo said although Q3’26 is typically a seasonally weaker quarter due to festive periods, they delivered a slight improvement in net profit year-on-year, even with ongoing expansion costs.

on strengthening their operational capabilities, expanding their patient base across key markets, and executing their growth strategy in a prudent manner. Currently, the group has six full-fledged IVF centres in operation, comprising four in Malaysia, one in the Philippines, and one in Singapore. The group is also in the process of establishing four additional full-fledged IVF centres, comprising one in Malaysia, two in Indonesia and one in the Philippines, bringing the total to 10 full-fledged IVF centres upon completion. The group expects all these centres to be operational by 2027.

In a statement, Alpha IVF said revenue for Q3’26 rose 16.1% to RM47.1 million from RM40.6 million in the corresponding quarter last year, driven by stronger contribution from both local and foreign patients in Malaysia operations. The same growth drivers during the quarter also saw the group recording higher revenue for

“We saw an encouraging start from our new centres in Sabah and Manila. As these centres scale and mature, we expect them to contribute more meaningfully to earnings growth in the coming quarters,” he added. Looking ahead, he said, they remain focused