PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli has raised alarm bells over February's inflation data, which recorded 4.5 percent year-on-year, the highest monthly inflation rate in eight years.

"The news about February's inflation hitting 4.5 percent passed without notice.

"There is an MP who is more interested in offering tens of thousands in prize money to get people to sully their political opponents, but are uninterested about spiking inflation.

"Politicians assume that most Malaysians do not understand economic figures, or they don't understand it themselves and therefore the matter has been ignored without any reaction," he said in a statement today.

Rafizi was likely referring to Umno information chief Annuar Musa's RM50,000 offer for essays on whether DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang was racist.

It sparked a flurry of responses from DAP, including a police report, DAP member Zaid Ibrahim offering RM10,000 for essays on whether Najib Abdul Razak is the worst prime minister and Lim asking the government to offer RM500,000 for essays on whether Najib was a kleptocrat.

Rafizi said the inflation spike was due to increases in the cost of transportation, food and housing, all of which are important to Malaysians.

He pointed out that annual inflation exceeding 4.5 percent only occurred twice in recent years, namely during the 1998 Asian financial crisis and 2008 US subprime mortgage crisis.

Bank Negara expects the annual inflation data for the year 2017 to be between three to four percent. It was 2.1 percent last year.

In light of the inflation concerns, Rafizi said he will speak to his political allies and NGOs on addressing the problem.

"I will campaign to re-institute subsidies that will not be exposed to leakages and that reach the target groups, as a first step towards overcoming the rising cost of goods," he said.