The consumer price index (CPI) for June rose 0.1 percent year-on-year, driven mainly by food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and clothing and footwear, according to the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC).

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) today, NBC’s infographic showed that core inflation and inflation excluding oil were 0.6 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. “Among the 12 major CPI groups, eight of them increased,” NBC said.

The transportation sector saw a large compression at 10.6 percent year-on-year (YoY), while housing water, electricity, gas and other fuels slipped 1.3 percent compared to June last year.

Accordingly, CPI for all items stood at 202.1 points in June (highest in nearly two decades based on NBC’s data), expanding from 201.3 points in May and 202.06 in June last year.

That being said, the YoY CPI has eased from nearly three percent from the beginning of the year and record highs last year.

Earlier in July, NBC said inflation moderated to 1.2 percent in the first half of 2023 from 6.6 percent in the corresponding period in 2022, and 4.1 percent in the second half of that year, due to lower fuel and food prices.

For 2023, the central bank expects inflation to ease to two percent as fuel prices are projected to slow down, with gross domestic product growth forecast at 5.5 percent.