PSA: Inflation rises to 6.1 Percent in September

MANILA, Philippines — Inflation accelerated for the second month in September, driven by faster increases in food prices particularly rice, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa at a press conference yesterday said headline inflation, or the rate of increase in average prices of goods and services typically purchased by consumers, was at 6.1 percent in September – faster than the 5.3 percent in August.

Reacting to the latest inflation figure, Malacañang assured the “most vulnerable sectors” of continued assistance.

“The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. gave an assurance on Thursday for its continued support to the most vulnerable sectors while implementing necessary measures to respond to rising prices as inflation inched up in September this year,” the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said in a statement.

The latest inflation reading, however, is slower than the 6.9 percent rate in September last year.

The September inflation print is at the upper end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s 5.3 to 6.1 percent forecast for the month.

For the January to September period, inflation averaged 6.6 percent, still above the BSP’s two to four percent target range.

Mapa cited food and non-alcoholic beverages as the main driver of the uptrend in overall inflation as the commodity group registered a higher inflation rate of 9.7 percent in September from 8.1 percent the previous month.

Food inflation rose to 10 percent in September from 8.2 percent the previous month mainly due to rice.

Rice inflation zoomed to 17.9 percent in September, the highest rate since the 22.9 percent in March 2009. It is also faster than the 8.7 percent in August despite a government-imposed price cap of P41 per kilo for regular milled rice and P45 for well-milled rice last month. The government has lifted the price ceiling.

The increase in food inflation in September was also attributed to the higher inflation rate in meat (1.3 percent during the month from -0.1 percent in August), fruits and nuts (11.6 percent from 9.6 percent), and corn (1.6 percent from 0.9 percent).

Transport costs also pushed up the inflation rate as the commodity group registered 1.2 percent inflation in September from 0.2 percent in August.

Core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, decelerated further to 5.9 percent in September from the previous month’s 6.1 percent, but was still higher than the five percent print in September last year.

Assurances of support

Given the latest inflation result, the government will continue to support the most vulnerable sectors and implement measures to respond to rising prices, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in a statement.

“The government is committed to providing targeted assistance to affected vulnerable segments of the population while food prices remain elevated,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

Measures aimed at easing the impact of rising prices include a food stamp program being implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to address food poverty and malnutrition among low-income Filipino households. The program involves P3,000 worth of food credits per month for beneficiaries.

NEDA said 78,000 farmers listed in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program will also be provided P10,000 cash subsidy by the DSWD. In addition, rice farmers are set to receive P5,000 worth of financial assistance. — Alexis Romero, Delon Porcalla