THE country’s inflation rate further eased to 1.3 percent in May from 1.4 percent in the previous month on the back of lower utility costs and slower price gains in restaurants and accommodation services.
This matched the median estimate of 13 economists polled by Inquirer last week. It also settled within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ forecast range of 0.9 percent to 1.7 percent for May.
The latest consumer price data also marked the slowest pace since November 2019, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.
The index of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels eased to 2.3 percent from 2.9 percent in the previous month.
The restaurant and accommodation services index cooled to 2 percent during the month from 2.3 percent in April.
Overall, the latest reading landed below the lower-end of the official target range of 2 to 4 percent.
As it is, another month of benign inflation would support the ongoing easing cycle of the local central bank, which has so far trimmed the benchmark rate that banks typically use when pricing loans to 5.5 percent.
Food inflation meanwhile remained at 0.7 percent.
National Statistician Dennis Mapa, however, said rice inflation was at -12.8 percent from -10.9 percent in April.
According to Mapa, the rollout of the P20 per kilogram rice program in line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the “Benteng Bigas Meron Na”, helped lower rice prices. (Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
