English
Philippines: Inflation eases to 2.4% in July
MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 10:09 a.m.) — The country’s headline, or total, inflation eased to 2.4% in July, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said in a press briefing Tuesday.
This was lower than the 2.7% recorded in June and the lowest recorded since January 2017. “It was the same rate observed in July 2017,” Mapa said, adding inflation in July 2018 was at 5.7%.
The July rate brings year-to-date inflation to 3.3%, well within the state’s 2%-4% annual target.
The top contributor to the overall inflation was Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages with a 31.6-percent share of inflation. Within that commodity group, meat had inflation of 3.5% and a 37.4-percent share, followed by fish at 3.8% and a 37.3-percent share.
Slower price growth was also recorded in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.
Amid cooling inflation, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas — whose primary mandate is to maintain price stability — cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 4.5% from a decade-high of 4.75% in May, and announced a three-step reduction in bank reserves to 16% from 18%.
At their June meeting, the central bank decided to do a “prudent pause for the time being” and kept its key rate unchanged.
The BSP’s monetary board will meet again on Thursday afternoon to review policy settings, or a few hours after the government releases the second quarter gross domestic product data in the morning.
Many central banks around the world have begun slashing interest rates in a bid to power growth amid headwinds that are cooling the global economy.
BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno — who is widely seen by the market as a pro-growth central bank chief — has said a benign inflation should give the monetary board more space to further cut borrowing rates.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/08/06/1941065/inflation-eases-24-july#uSg8XJQCXRGtXaAP.99