Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7) — After months of increase, Filipino consumers had a slight relief in February as the pace of increase in the cost of goods and services cooled to 8.6%, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.
Data from the PSA showed the inflation rate eased to 8.6%, slower than 8.7% in January.The figure was within the 8.5% to 9.3% forecast range of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the month.According to the BSP, possible upward pressures include higher liquefied petroleum prices, and the uptick in prices of pork, fish, egg, and sugar.In a briefing, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said transport was the “sole driver” of the downtrend following slower increases in the prices of gasoline, diesel, and motorcycles.
Mapa, however, noted a “base effect” on the transport index since February 2022, which saw soaring fuel prices.
Nine commodity groups posted higher prices.Food inflation slightly slowed down to 11.1% in February from 11.2% in January.Meanwhile, inflation rate in Metro Manila was slightly faster at 8.7% from 8.6% in January, driven by housing, water, electricity, and gas.Areas outside the capital region, on the other hand, saw lower inflation rate at 8.5%.Inflation in Western Visayas was high at 10.8%, while Eastern Visayas posted slower inflation at 6.3%.While there was a slight decline in food inflation, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said energy and food “remained the top contributors” to inflation.“We must rethink our strategies to combat rising food prices. The country’s current high inflation is largely driven by domestic, supply-side constraints. Agricultural imports were ill-timed and food supplies have been inadequate. The solution is to get to the root of the problem, including fixing the bottlenecks along all segments of the agricultural value chain,” he said.
