September Inflation Drops Further to 0.4 Percent

Manila—(PHStocks)—Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)—Headline inflation slowed down to 0.4 percent in September from 0.6 percent in August, and was within the BSP’s range forecast of 0.2-1.0 percent for the month. The resulting year-to-date average inflation rate of 1.6 percent is below the Government’s inflation target range of 3 percent ± 1.0 percentage point for 2015.

Likewise, core inflation—which excludes certain volatile food and energy items to better capture underlying price pressures—eased to 1.4 percent in September from 1.6 percent in the previous month. On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, the change in the consumer price index declined by 0.1 percent.

The deceleration in the September inflation was attributed mainly to lower prices of selected food and non-food items. Year-on-year non-food inflation turned negative in September as prices of electricity, gas, and other fuels decreased further due to lower generation charges for household electricity rates. At the same time, food inflation decelerated as inflation for rice, corn, oils and fats continued to decline relative to year-ago levels while other key food items such as fish, fruits, milk, cheese, and eggs registered lower inflation rates.

BSP Officer-In-Charge Diwa C. Guinigundo said that the BSP will continue to keep a close watch of evolving price trends to ensure price stability conducive to a balanced and sustained economic growth.