MANILA – Inflation cooled further in July, holding within monetary authorities’ target range for the sixth straight month, and setting the stage for another reduction in interest rates, official data released on Tuesday showed.
The consumer price index rose 2.4 in July from 2.7 percent in the previous month, matching the median forecast of 2.4 percent from a Bloomberg poll of economists. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) think tank predicted a 2 to 2.8 percent range.
The July rate was the slowest since January 2017, said National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa, ahead of the release of gross domestic product data for the second quarter and a Monetary Board meeting on Thursday.
The July data shows that the deceleration is “intact” with rice prices falling due to a new law that imposes tariffs on the staple and a third straight month of reductions in electricity rates, said ING Bank economist Nicholas Mapa.
The peso’s strength also contributed to slower inflation by making import costs cheaper, Mapa said in a statement.
The BSP could cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points on Thursday to support economic growth, Mapa said. (ABS-CBN News)
