The country's headline inflation eased to 3.7% in June 2024 from 3.9% in May, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Friday, July 5.
Based on PSA's Summary Inflation Report Consumer Price Index, the latest figure is also lower than the 5.4% inflation rate in June 2023.
One of the key causes of the downtrend in inflation in June 2024 was the reduced annual growth of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 0.1% from 0.9% in May 2024.
Also contributing to the downtrend were the slower annual increases in the indices of transport with 3.1% in June 2024 compared to 3.5% in May 2024.
Restaurants and accommodation services decelerated with 5.1 percent inflation in June 2024, up from 5.3% inflation in the previous month.
Meanwhile, food inflation increased to 6.5% in June from 6.1% in the previous month due to higher prices of vegetables and meat.
In June, vegetables recorded an increased inflation rate of 7.2% from 2.7% in May as the onset of the rainy season affected supply.
The increase in meat costs was caused by higher prices for meat (3.9% from 2.4%), chicken (2.4% from -0.3%), and beef (2.8% from 2.6%). The inflation rate for the month was 3.1%, compared to 1.6% the previous month.
PSA said the number of current cases of African swine flu increased along with pork inflation. Due to supply issues brought on by the temporary import ban on poultry goods from Australia and the United States, chicken inflation surged.
There was also a modest decrease in rice inflation from 23.0% in May to 22.5% in June.
“We are committed to maintaining the country’s inflation rate within our target range of 3 to 4 percent. The easing in our inflation rate in June, mainly due to lower electricity rates, highlights the importance of strengthening our energy sector to sustain our gains,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said in a press briefing.
“We will continue to work closely with the government, stakeholders, and other priority sectors to implement necessary measures to ensure that the country will have a sufficient and affordable food supply – including rice – for every Filipino," he added.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. earlier issued a modified tariff rate on various products under Executive Order (EO) 62 to ensure a continuous supply of goods and to protect the purchasing power of the Filipinos, such as the rice tariff, which was reduced to 15% from 35%.
