Crude Oil Price Changes and Inflation: Evidence for Asia and the Pacific Economies

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of crude oil price on inflation in eight Asian and two of the pacific economies, which are oil-importing countries. The period of investigation is from 1987M5 to 2019M12. The results of bounds testing for cointegration reveal that there is a stable positive long-run relationship between the consumer price index and crude oil price in most of these countries during the period of low and less fluctuating oil prices. However, the stable long-run relationship is found in eight countries, but this stable relationship is found only in one country during the period of high and more fluctuating oil prices. The long-run pass-through of crude oil prices to consumer prices is partial. In the short run, the relationship between a crude oil price change and inflation indicates that the short-run pass-through is low in most cases, but this pass-through is more apparent during the period of high and more fluctuating oil prices. Therefore, the structural break seems to matter in the pass-through of crude oil price to consumer prices in both the long and short run. The findings suggest accommodative monetary policy measures to alleviate the inflation rate.