RP Inflation Falls To A 22-Year Low In August

Slower increase in fuel, light and water (FLW) prices pulled inflation to a fresh 22-year low in August, the National Statistics Office said Friday.

Headline inflation, which is the rate of change in the consumer price index, was at 0.1 percent, a marked slowdown from the 15-year high rate of 12.5 percent in the same month last year.

In July, consumer prices rose by a mere 0.2 percent.

The FLW index in National Capital Region contracted by 1.3 percent on lower prices of LPG and electricity rates during the period.

While increases in the prices of LPG and kerosene pushed up the index by 0.8 percent in areas outside NCR, this was slower than the 2.3-percent gain last month. The national index slowed down to 0.1 percent from 2.1 percent in July.

"Sufficient supply of chicken in the markets pushed down its prices during the month. Lower prices of pork in some regions were also noticed in August," the NSO said.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile items, was at 2.9 percent in August, a decline from July’s 3.6 percent.

Except for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) items whose inflation rose to 1.8 percent from 1.6 percent, rise in prices of goods and services for all the commodity groups decelerated.