Inflation hits 13-month low PSA: 5.4 percent in June as price hikes for food, beverages ease

By Julito G. Rada, Charles Dantes, Maricel V. Cruz and Othel V. Campos

INFLATION in June 2023 slowed to a 13-month low of

5.4 percent from 6.1 percent a month ago, as price increases for food and non-alcoholic beverages eased, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Wednesday.

This was also slower than the 6.1 percent posted a year ago in June, and brought the first half average to 7.2 percent, still much higher than the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for the entire year.

“This is the fifth consecutive month of deceleration in the headline inflation and the lowest in the past 13 months,” National Statistician Dennis Mapa said in an online briefing.

From a peak of 8.7 percent in January 2023, inflation eased to 8.6 percent in February, 7.6 percent in March, 6.6 percent in April, and 6.1 percent in May.

Mapa said the decline in overall inflation in June was mainly due to the slower increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages, which was at 6.7 percent, down from 7.4 percent in May.

Slower increases in transport costs

FOUNTAIN RELIEF.

A child cools off under water jets in a fountain during a heatwave in Montpellier, southern France, on June 26. The Philippines is also feeling unusually warm for its rainy season, with the heat index expected to hit 43 degrees in Metro Manila today (see story on A2) AFP