Philippines: Inflation eases in May from April
Latest reading: Consumer prices increased 6.8% on a year-on-year basis in May, following a 7.2% rise in the previous month. Still, inflation remained notably above the Central Bank’s 2.0–4.0% target range.
Relative to the previous month’s figures, there were milder price pressures for food and non-alcoholic beverages (+5.7% on a year-on-year basis vs +6.0% in April), housing and utilities (+7.8% vs +8.2% in April) and transport (+16.2% vs +21.4% in April). In contrast, price pressures were higher for clothing and footwear in May (+3.0% vs +2.9% in April).
Lastly, consumer prices were down 0.51% in May in seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms, following a 2.63% rise in the previous month.