HEADLINE inflation settled at 6.1 percent in September this year, higher than the 5.3 percent recorded in August, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Undersecretary and National Statistician Dennis Mapa said yesterday.
Mapa, in a briefing, said inflation in September last year was at 6.9 percent.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food items, however, was down to 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent in August.
Mapa said the higher headline inflation rate during the month was primarily brought about by the higher year-on-year increase in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 9.7 percent from 8.1 percent in the previous month.
The main contributor to the higher inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages was the faster increase in the prices of cereal and cereal products with an inflation of 14.1 percent from 8.3 percent in August and meat at 1.3 percent from -0.1 percent the previous month.
For rice alone, inflation went up to 17.9 percent from 8.7 percent in August.
Mapa said transport, with an inflation rate of 1.2 percent from 0.2 percent in the previous month, also contributed to the uptrend of the headline inflation.
Year-to-date, headline inflation settled at 6.6 percent which is still outside the central bank’s 2 to 4 percent target.
Inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) meanwhile also went up to 6.1 percent from 5.9 percent the previous month.
For areas outside NCR, inflation increased to 6.0 percent from 5.2 percent.
For the bottom 30 percent income households, inflation picked up to 6.9 percent from 5.6 percent in August.
In a separate statement yesterday, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) assured that the government will continue to provide support to the most vulnerable sectors while implementing necessary measures to respond to rising prices.
NEDA secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government, through the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO), is proactively monitoring the demand-and-supply situation, particularly of key commodities, to give President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and his Cabinet appropriate and timely policy recommendations.
During the last IAC-IMO meeting on Oct. 3, the committee recommended extending the lower Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff rate on rice under Executive Order 10.
“As we implement short-term measures to ease the negative effects of inflation, it is imperative that we also address our long-term food supply issues by providing support for our local farmers to boost their productivity and resilience. These include investing in irrigation, modern high-yielding varieties, pest control, and logistics,” he said. (PNA)/PN
