Inflation rate eased to 6.3 percent in August after five consecutive months of acceleration, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Tuesday.
It was slower than 6.4 percent in July and 4.4 percent in August 2021.
Inflation from January to August averaged 4.9 percent, above the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for 2022.
“The slowdown in inflation at the national level in August 2022 was primarily due to the lower annual increment recorded in the index for transport at 14.6 percent, from 18.1 percent in the previous month,” the PSA said.
“This was followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages whose index declined by 6.3 percent year-on-year, from 6.9 percent in July 2022. The index for information and communication also exhibited lower annual growth at 0.4 percent, from 0.5 percent in July 2022,” it said.
Sugar inflation in August remained high at 26 percent, while inflation for rice reached 2.2 percent.
The PSA said core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, climbed to 4.6 percent in August from 3.9 percent in July and 2.8 percent a year ago.
