MANILA, Philippines — Philippine inflation eased to 6.1 percent in August from 6.2 percent in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Friday.
This is the fourth straight month that inflation has gone down since April’s over three-year high of 7.2 percent. It is also lower than the 6.2 percent recorded a month earlier but higher than last year’s 1.5 percent.
The August inflation rate was primarily driven by the slower increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages, which eased to 4.6 percent from 5.2 percent in July.
Inflation in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels also slowed to 7.9 percent from 8.2 percent in the previous month.
The latest inflation reading was within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) forecast range of 5.5 to 6.5 percent for August.
Core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, likewise eased to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent in July.
The August figure brought the average inflation rate for the first eight months of the year to 5.2 percent, remaining above the BSP's 2- to 4-percent target range.
Transport inflation, however, accelerated to 13.5 percent in August from 11.9 percent in July.
