The headline inflation in the Philippines continued to exhibit a slower pace as it decelerated further to 2.3 percent in September 2020 from 2.4 percent in August 2020. In September 2019, inflation was lower at 0.9 percent. The year-to-date inflation for September 2020 remains at 2.5 percent.
The downtrend in the overall inflation in September 2020 was mainly caused by the slowdown in the inflation for the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages which eased at an annual rate of 1.5 percent during the month, from 1.8 percent in the previous month. Likewise, slower inflation was recorded for alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 12.9 percent; clothing and footwear, 1.8 percent; and furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house, 3.7 percent. Moreover, the annual rate in the index of recreation and culture dropped further to -0.5 percent during the month.
Meanwhile, annual increases were higher during the month in the indices of housing, water,electricity, gas, and other fuels (1.2%); transport (8.3%); communication (0.4%); and education (0.9%). The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s annual growth rates.
Core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, inched up to 3.2 percent in September 2020, from 3.1 percent in the previous month. Core inflation in September 2019 was registered at 2.7 percent.
For the food inflation at the country level, it continued to decelerate to 1.5 percent during the month, from 1.7 percent in August 2020. In September 2019, food inflation was posted at -1.3 percent.
By food group, the indices for rice and corn both exhibited an annual decrease of -0.6 percent during the month. Likewise, the index for vegetables fell further to -2.7 percent during the period.
Moreover, annual increments slid in the indices of other cereals, flour, cereal preparation, bread, pasta and other bakery products at 2.3 percent; meat, 2.9 percent; milk, cheese, and egg, 2.4 percent; and food products, not elsewhere classified, 5.1 percent.
The remaining food groups either had higher annual increases or retained their previous month’s annual growth rates.
(source: PSA)
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