(Eagle News)–The Philippines posted an overall inflation rate of 3.4 percent in February, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Tuesday, March 5.
The PSA said this was an increase from the 2.8 percent inflation rate registered the month before, and from the 8.6 percent inflation rate recorded in February 2023.
According to the PSA, the uptrend in the overall inflation was primarily influenced by the “higher year-on-year increase in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages,” at 4.6 percent from the 3.5 percent posted in the previous month.
Also contributing to the uptrend, the PSA said, was the annual increase of transport, at 1.2 percent this February, from the 0.3 percent registered the month before.
“Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels also contributed to the uptrend as it recorded a faster annual increase of 0.9 percent during the month from 0.7 percent in January 2024,” the PSA said.
It added a higher inflation rate was also noted in alcoholic beverages and tobacco, at 8.6 percent in February 2024 from 8.4 percent the previous month.
The following commodity groups, meanwhile, registered lower inflation rates in February:
a. Clothing and footwear, 3.6 percent from 3.8 percent;
b. Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 3.3 percent from 3.9 percent;
c. Health, 3.0 percent from 3.3 percent;
d. Information and communication, 0.4 percent from 0.5 percent;
e. Recreation, sport and culture, 3.8 percent from 4.0 percent;
f. Restaurants and accommodation services, 5.3 percent from 5.5 percent;
g. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 3.8 percent from 4.0 percent.
“The indices of education services and financial services retained their previous month’s annual increment of 3.8 percent and annual decrease of 0.6 percent, respectively,” the PSA said.
