PSA says PH inflation slows further to 1.7% in August

FILE: FRESH VEGGIES AT COGEO MARKET. A customer chooses fresh vegetables at the Cogeo Market Ventures Corp. in Antipolo City, Rizal. Prices vary depending on the quality, freshness and source of vegetables. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced a good news on Thursday, September 5, saying that the country’s inflation rate decelerated further to 1.7 percent in the month of August.

This was lower than the 2.4 percent inflation rate recorded in July, and the “lowest” since October 2016 in which the inflation rate was 1.8 percent, according to National Statistician Dennis Mapa.

“The slowdown in the inflation in August 2019 was mainly due to the slower annual increase in the index of the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 0.6 percent,” he said in a press conference.

Commodity groups that posted slower annual rates during the month are as follows: Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 1.8 percent; health at 3.1 percent; recreation and culture at 1.8 percent; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services at 3.2 percent. The transport index also contributed to the downtrend of inflation in August as it dropped by 0.2 percent, Mapa added.

Meanwhile, higher annual increments were noted in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 10.1 percent; clothing and footwear at 2.8 percent; and education at 4.6 percent.

In terms of geographical location, inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) and areas outside NCR eased further to 1.4 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, on August 2019. The PSA also said Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) has the lowest inflation of 0.5 percent in August, while MIMAROPA region still has the highest inflation at 4.6 percent.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier projected that the August 2019 inflation was likely to settle within 1.3 percent to 2.1 percent range because of the lower gasoline, diesel, and kerosene prices, as well as the continued decline in rice prices and electricity rates.

In its statement also on Wednesday, the central bank said, “The latest inflation outturn is consistent with the BSP’s prevailing assessment that inflation will continue to decelerate in Q3 2019 and pick up slightly in Q4 2019.”

The BSP will continue to keep a close watch over latest economic developments here and abroad to ensure that the monetary policy stance remains consistent with the BSP’s price stability objective while being supportive of economic growth,” it added.