INFLATION rate cooled down for the fourth consecutive month in May, thanks to slower movements in transport and food prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.
National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa reported that inflation — the rate of increase in the prices of goods and services — slowed down to 6.1% last month from 6.6% in April, bringing the year-to-date rate to 7.5%.
This is the fourth time that inflation dipped from a peak of 8.7% in January and the lowest since July 2022’s 6.4% rate.
Year-on-year, however, the inflation print in May was still faster than the 5.4% rate seen in May 2022.
Last month’s inflation rate fell within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) forecast range of 5.8% to 6.6%.
“Ang pangunahing dahilan ng pagbagal ng antas ng inflation nitong Mayo 2023 kaysa noong Abril 2023 ay ang mas mabagal na paggalaw ng presyo ng transport,” Mapa said.
The transport index saw a -0.5% inflation rate, down from 2.6% month-on-month and a 55.3% share in the overall decline in May.
Mapa cited the decline in gasoline (-18.5%) and diesel (-27.6%) prices as well the fall in other passenger transport by road cost (13.4%) for the Transport index’s drop.
The second top contributor to the slowdown in overall inflation was food and non-alcoholic beverages with 7.4% rate from 7.9% and a 37.3% share in the overall downtrend.
The slower inflation print in the food and non-alcoholic beverages was due to the easing of prices of fish and other seafood (5% from 7%); meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals (3.2% from 4.2%); and milk, other dairy products, and eggs (12.1% from 13%).
The third commodity group that contributed to the overall decline was restaurants and accommodation services with 8.3% inflation rate from 8.6% and a 5.7% share to the downtrend.
Mapa said this was due to the slower increase in the prices of restaurants, café and the like with an inflation print of 8.3% from 8.6% month-on-month.
Likewise, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that “the new inflation number and the declining trend give confidence that inflation would be within the target range of 2% to 4% by September this year.”
Tracking the national trend, inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) slowed down to 6.5% from 7.1% in April.
Similarly, inflation in areas outside NCR clocked in at 6% from 6.5% month-on-month.
Mapa said that the for the second straight month all regions outside NCR recorded slower inflation rates in May, with Cordillera Administrative Region remaining as the region with the lowest inflation for the third consecutive month at 3.9%, while MIMAROPA Region recorded the highest inflation at 7.2%z
Meanwhile, the inflation felt by the bottom 30% income households in the Philippines was registered at 6.7%, also exhibiting downward trend for the third month in a row. (GMA Integrated News)
