Inflation for poorest families falls to 4.3 % in April

MANILA, Philippines — Growth in consumer prices for the country’s bottom 30 percent income households continued to decline to 4.3 percent in April as food prices continued to fall, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.

Inflation for the income subgroup slowed down to 4.3 percent in April from 4.6 percent in March and 6.3 percent in April 2018.

Year-to-date, consumer prices have grown by 4.9 percent for the lowest income households in April 2019.

This tracks the continued slowdown in inflation to three percent in April 2019 from 3.3 percent in March 2019 and 4.5 percent in April 2018.

Year-on-year growth in the food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) index eased further to 4.5 percent in April 2019.

Likewise, the annual increase in housing and repairs index decelerated to 4.2 percent during the month.

On the other hand, higher annual increments were seen in the indices of clothing at 3.1 percent and fuel, light and water at 4.3 percent.

The indices of services and miscellaneous goods retained their previous month’s annual rates of 3.7 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

The food index at the national level grew slower at  3.9 percent in April 2019 from 4.3 percent in March 2019 and 6.1 percent in April 2018.

Slower price increases were seen for rice, dairy products, fish, m eat and miscellaneous foodstuff.

Faster growth, however, was seen in the indices of cereal preparations, eggs, as well as fruits and vegetables.

Despite the slowdown at the national level, inflation for the poorest 30 percent of households in NCR resumed its upturn to 2.6 percent in April from 2.3 percent in March and 6.3 percent in April 2018.

Faster annual rates were seen in the indices of food, beverage and tobacco as well as housing and repairs.

Inflation for the poorest households in areas outside NCR, meanwhile, fell further to 4.3 percent in April 2019 from 2.6 percent in March 2019 and 6.3 percent in April 2018.

This was attributed to slower growth in the food, beverages and tobacco index, as well as housing and repairs.