Singapore's consumer prices rose at a pace faster than expected in October as the costs of food, housing and transportation increased, underscoring the central bank's concern that inflation is likely to change little over the rest of the year.

The consumer price index increased 5.4 percent in October from the same month a year earlier, data from the Department of Statistics showed on Wednesday. The gain was higher than a median 5.2 percent rise forecast in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of 10 economists, but a little less than September's 5.5 percent rise.

The CPI rose 0.2 percent in October from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, after being unchanged in September. That matched the 0.2 percent month-to-month rise forecast in the poll.