(Eagle News) — Inflation slowed down to 4.5 percent in March 2021, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Tuesday, April 6.
According to the PSA, the inflation rate in the country decelerated after five consecutive months of acceleration.
The figure brings the average inflation of the country for the first quarter of 2021 at 4.5 percent.
According to the PSA, the slowdown was due primarily to the lower annual increment registered in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages.
This was at 5.8 percent in March 2021, from 6.7 percent inflation in February 2021.
The PSA said annual increases also decelerated in the indices of the following commodity groups:
- Tobacco and others, 12.1 percent;
- Furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house, 1.9 percent;
- Communication, 0.2 percent; and
- Restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, 3.1 percent.
“Meanwhile, the annual decline of -0.6 percent in recreation and culture index in March 2021 was lower than its annual drop of -0.7 percent in the previous month. Moreover, inflation was higher for transport at 13.8 percent during the period,” the PSA said.
It said the rest of the commodity groups retained their respective previous month’s annual growth rates.
Inflation in Metro Manila also slowed down to 3.7 percent in March 2021, from 4.1 percent the month before.
“Following the trend of the Philippines and NCR, inflation in AONCR slowed down to 4.7 percent in March 2021 from 4.8 percent in the previous month. Inflation in the area in March 2020 was posted at 2.7 percent,” the PSA said.
Inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a specific period of time.