(Eagle News)–Inflation slowed further to 0.9 percent in September, the lowest since June 2016.
The Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday, Oct. 4, the downtrend was primarily due to the “0.9 percent annual rate of decrease in the index of heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages.”
The PSA noted there was also a decrease in the annual change of the transport index– 0.9 percent–and lower annual increases in the following commodity groups:
- Clothing and footwear, 2.7%;
- Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, 0.8%;
- Communication, 0.2%;
- Recreation and culture, 1.4%; and
- Restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, 3.0%.
The PSA said inflation of alcoholic beverages and tobacco index increased further by 14.3 percent in September 2019.
The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s annual rates.
Inflation in August 2019 and in September 2018 were higher, at 1.7 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.
