The core measure, which excludes housing and private transportation costs and is watched by the central bank to determine policy settings, came in at 4.2% from a year earlier, official data showed Monday. That matched the prediction in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The reading further supports expectations that monetary policymakers will likely stand pat at least for the near term to support the trade-reliant economy which averted a technical recession in the second quarter but still showed signs of below-trend growth with exports contracting for nine straight months through June.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, which uses the exchange rate as its main policy tool, already paused tightening in April after five moves since October 2021.

All items inflation cooled to a 16-month low of 4.5% in June, after a 5.1% reading in May.

Other details from Monday’s print:

• Food prices rose 5.9% from a year ago
• Housing and utilities gained 4.3% year-on-year, the slowest pace since February 2022
• Transport costs increased 4.6%, the slowest since February 2021