Inflation drops to 1.4% in April

Consumer prices in the country accelerated by only 1.4 percent in April, the slowest rate in over five years.

- By DERCO ROSAL

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country's inflation slowed further from the 1.8 percent recorded in March to 1.4 percent last month, making it the slowest since November 2019 when inflation was recorded at 1.2 percent.

April's figure fell significantly below the government's target band of two percent to four percent, but within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) forecast range of 1.3 percent to 2.1 percent. Last month's figure brought the average rate for the first four months to two percent.

Core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, remained at 2.2 percent during the period.

In a statement released on Tuesday, May 6, the PSA said the inflation eased at the start of the second quarter mainly due to slower price hikes in food and non-alcoholic beverages, which increased by just 0.9 percent compared to 2.2 percent in March.

Rice prices, which had the heaviest weight in the basket, continued to fall during the period, dropping by 10.9 percent from 7.7 percent in March. This marked the 10th straight month of deflation, driven by "lower local farmgate prices and reduced landed cost of imported rice." Likewise, a steeper drop in transport costs also helped drive inflation down, with the transport index falling 2.1 percent year-on-year from a 1.1 percent decline in the previous month.