MANILA, Sept 6 — Year-on-year inflation in the Philippines slowed to 6.3 per cent in August from 6.4 per cent in July, Xinhua reported, quoting the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday.
PSA head Dennis Mapa told a news conference that the headline inflation eased in August after five consecutive months of acceleration. With the August inflation, the Philippine average inflation for the first eight months this year stood at 4.9 per cent.
Mapa said the slowdown in inflation in August was primarily due to the lower annual increment recorded in the index for transport at 14.6 per cent, followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.3 per cent.
On the other hand, Mapa said the inflation rates were higher for alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 9.3 per cent; clothing and footwear, 2.8 per cent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 6.8 per cent.
The inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages was partly offset by the slower inflation of meat, fish, and vegetables.
“This is due to the government’s various interventions, including improvements in the local pork production and timely import arrival of pork,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items in the headline inflation, stood at 4.6 per cent in August.
— Bernama
