(Eagle News) – Inflation rate in July rose to an even higher rate of 5.7 percent compared to June’s 5.2 percent, indicating that prices of goods and services continued to rise, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“The country’s headline inflation rate continued to move at a faster pace of 5.7 percent in July 2018,” the PSA’s latest report released today, Tuesday, August 7, said.
This is the highest recorded in five years, based on PSA’s statistics.
The PSA attributed this “uptrend” to the rise in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which was recorded at a 7.1 percent annual rate.
The prices of goods and services even registered higher in Metro Manila, at an inflation of 6.5 percent in July.
Last June, inflation in Metro Manila was posted at 5.8 percent. The previous year, July 2017, the inflation was only at 2.9 percent.
According to the PSA, contributing to the uptrend were the higher annual increases noted in the indices of the following commodity groups:
• Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 7.2%;
• Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco , 21.9%;
• Clothing and Footwear, 2.4%;
• Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, 8.2%;
• Health, 4.5%;
• Transport, 8.9%;
• Communication, 0.6%; and
• Recreation and Culture, 1.1%.
Inflation outside Metro Manila in July also rose by 5.5 percent, higher than June’s observed inflation of 5.1 percent. Last year in July, the inflation outside the Philippine capital was only at 2.2 percent, the PSA said.
Over-all, excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation rate accelerated by 4.5 percent in July 2018,it said.
“It was pegged at 4.3 percent in the previous month and 2.1 percent in July 2017,” the PSA report noted.
“Similarly, the annual mark-up in the food alone index was higher at 6.8 percent in July 2018.
Inflation in the previous month was observed at 5.8 percent and in July 2017, 2.9 percent,” it said.
The PSA also noted that all the food groups, except for corn and fruits, posted “higher annual increments” or increase in July this year, compared to their annual rates in June.
“Faster annual mark-ups were recorded in all the commodity groups, except for the indices of recreation and culture, and education,” the PSA said.
The government has downplayed the increase in inflation rate due to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, which imposes excise tax on fuel, among others.
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