Price impact on the poor eases in July
MANILA, Philippines — Consumer price growth felt by poor families further eased in July, the country’s statistics agency reported Tuesday.
Inflation for the bottom 30% income households stood at 3.1% in July, slower than June’s 4% and the 7.6% recorded a year ago.
The latest reading was the slowest rate since September 2017. Year-to-date, inflation for low income households averaged 4.5%.
“Inflation were slower in the indices of all the commodity groups during the month, except for the index of housing and repairs, which posted a higher annual increment of 4.5 percent in July 2019,” the Philippine Statistics Authority said.
Headline inflation softened to 2.4% in July — the slowest rate in two years. Year-to-date, price growth averaged 3.3%, well within the state’s 2%-4% annual target.
Earlier this month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas — whose primary mandate is to maintain price stability — cut its benchmark interest rate and hinted at further monetary policy easing.
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