SINGAPORE is set to enter a phase of disinflation in 2024, after two years of rapid price increases in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Economists are divided over how monetary policy will shape up, though, even as the central bank shifts to quarterly rather than half-yearly decisions.

Core inflation, which excludes private transport and accommodation costs, is expected to cool to about 3 per cent in 2024 – the average estimate by analysts in a straw poll by The Business Times.

All those surveyed had estimates within the central bank’s official forecast range of 2.5 to 3.5 per cent. Maybank had the lowest forecast at 2.8 per cent, while Moody’s was at the other end with 3.2 per cent.