Singapore's CPI seen up 0.5 percent year-on-year in February - Reuters poll

By Fathin Ungku

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's annual headline and core inflation rates likely accelerated in February from the previous month, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.

The consumer price index probably rose 0.5 percent in February, the poll of 10 economists showed, up from January when the city-state reported no change in consumer prices.

"We expect the Lunar New Year celebrations to have boosted the demand for food items, propping up prices over the month," said ANZ bank in a research note to clients.

The poll's median for the annual increase in the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) core inflation measure in February was 1.6 percent, up from the 1.4 percent reported for January.

The central bank's core inflation measure excludes changes in the price of cars and accommodation, which are influenced more by government policies.

In its latest policy review in October, the MAS kept its exchange-rate based monetary policy steady but changed a reference to maintaining current settings for an extended period, a shift that analysts said created room for a tightening this year.

(Reporting by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Sunil Nair)