Inflation falls amid falling food prices

The rate of increase in consumer prices slowed last month due to lower costs for heavy food and non-alcoholic beverages, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced today.

Headline inflation fell to 2.4 percent in August this year from 2.7 percent in the previous month, but higher compared to 1.7 percent in the same period last year.

The inflation rate for August brought the country’s first eight-month average to 2.5 percent, well within the government’s target range of 2.0 to 4.0 percent.

“The slowdown in inflation in August 2020 was mainly due to the slowdown in inflation for heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages, which slid at an annual rate of 1.8 percent during the period, from 2.4 percent in the previous month, ”said PSA.

Likewise, other groups of raw materials also registered lower inflation during the month.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 17.7 percent; clothing and footwear, 1.9 percent; furniture, household goods and routine maintenance of the home, 3.9 percent; education, 0.1 percent; and restaurants and miscellaneous goods and services, 2.3 percent.

On the other hand, inflation for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased slightly by 0.9 percent, from 0.8 percent the previous month.

The annual growth rates that maintained the previous month were health (2.8 percent), transportation (6.3 percent) and communications (0.3 percent).

Core inflation, which excludes certain food and energy, also slowed to 3.1 percent in August from 3.3 percent in the previous month and 2.9 percent a year ago.