Inflation down to 3.7% in June — PSA

(UPDATE)MANILA, Philippines — Slower increases in electricity and fuel prices, as well as transport costs caused inflation to decline last month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.

Consumer price growth dropped to 3.7 percent in June, snapping four consecutive months of increases at 3.9 percent in May. This is also markedly lower than the 5.4 percent recorded in the same month last year.

Rates remained within the central bank's 2.0-to 4.0-percent target for the seventh straight month.

It is well within the 3.4- to 4.2-percent estimate of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the month and lower than the 3.9-percent median in a Manila Times poll of economists.

"The downtrend in the overall inflation in June 2024 was primarily influenced by the slower annual increment of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 0.1 percent during the month from 0.9 percent in May 2024," the PSA said.

Slower increases in transport (3.1 percent from 3.5 percent) and restaurants and accommodation services (5.1 percent from 5.3 percent) also contributed to the decline.

Food and alcoholic beverages still accounted for over half — 61.9 percent share or 2.3 percentage points — of overall inflation.

Food inflation, meanwhile, rose to 6.5 percent in June from the previous month's 6.1 percent.

Rice inflation—which contributed to the uptick in inflation from the previous months—declined further to 22.5 percent last month from 23.0 percent in May.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, remained at 3.1 percent and markedly lower than the 7.4 percent recorded a year earlier.

Year to date, headline inflation and core inflation were recorded at 3.5 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively. Both are still within the central bank's target range for the year.