Inflation drops to 1.3% in May

Consumer price increase slowest in 6 years

- BY DERCO ROSAL

Consumer price increases slowed further to 1.3 percent in May from 1.4 percent in April, marking the slowest pace in nearly six years, with the poorest households experiencing no increase in overall prices.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the country's headline inflation moved at an even slower pace compared to the previous month, which marks the lowest rate since November 2019, when it stood at 1.2 percent.

May's inflation rate fell way below the target band of the government, at two to four percent. Compared to the forecast range of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), last month's figure clocked in at the midpoint of the 0.9to 1.7-percent projection.

PSA Undersecretary and National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said during a press briefing on Thursday, June 5, that the continued easing of inflation in May was mainly due to the slower price movements in the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels sub-index.

It clocked in at 2.3 percent in May from 2.9 percent in April. In particular, it accounted for 68.4 percent in the overall disinflation.

Also driving the slowdown were lower prices in restaurant and accommodation services, a sharper drop in transport costs, and a slight easing in household items and maintenance.

As such, the average inflation for the first five months clocked in at 1.9 percent, still below the government's target band of annual price increases deemed manageable and conducive to economic growth.

Notably, the bottom 30-percent income households, or the poorest households in the country, had seen no fluctuations in prices in May, plummeting from 5.3 percent in the same month last year.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez said this was effectively zero in May, reflecting the government's success in shielding the poorest sectors from rising prices.