SINGAPORE - A smaller rise in car prices helped lower Singapore's inflation rate to 1.8 per cent last month from 2.7 per cent in May, data from the Singapore Department of Statistics showed on Wednesday.

This was largely due to a sharp correction in certificate of entitlement premiums, according to a separate statement from the Trade and Industry Ministry and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

As a result, the cost of private road transport, including cars, rose 2.8 per cent in June from a year ago, moderating from the 8.1 per cent surge in May, the government bodies said.

They added that consumer prices for most other items also rose at a slower rate in June over the previous year, compared to the rise in May.

The exception was food, where prices increased 3.2 per cent in June from the year before, accelerating from a 3 per cent climb in May.

But services inflation eased to 2.2 per cent in June from 2.5 per cent in May, while accommodation costs also moderated to 0.5 per cent in June from 0.9 per cent in May.

Core inflation, which excludes the cost of accommodation and private road transport, edged down to 2.1 per cent in June from 2.2 per cent in May.