Philippine inflation rises to 6.4%

820
Philippine
The Philippine's PSA reported the state’s inflation rate for July 2022 rose to 6.4 percent

Manila, 6 August 2022 (TDI): The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the inflation rate for July 2022 increased to 6.4%, chiefly driven by high prices of food and transport.

The Secretary of Finance of the Republic of the Philippines, Benjamin Diokno highlighted that for the rest of the year 2022 “inflation is seen to remain elevated, peaking in Q3”.

However, Secretary Diokno said that it will slow down in Q4. Thus, inflationwill fall within the 4.5% to 5.5% DBCC assumption for 2022.

In addition, he stated that in order to alleviate the burden on the poorest section of the population, the govt has provided P4.1-billion for the second tranche of the Targeted Cash Transfer Program.

Therefore, this will help over 4 million Filipino families cope with the price increase. Secretary Diokno further said that given that oil prices remain elevated, the government will in addition “fast-track the distribution of the second tranche of subsidies for jeepney drivers and operators”. Together with the fuel cash subsidies for tricycle drivers.

“To boost local food production, the govt will continue to support the agriculture sector through the Plant, Plant, Plant Program 2,” said the Secretary of Finance.

Summary Inflation Report Consumer Price

The headline inflation of the Philippines continued its uptrend as it moved up further to 6.4 percent in July 2022. That is, from 6.1 percent in June 2022.

Therefore, this is the highest recorded inflation since October 2018. In line with this month’s inflation, the Philippines’ average inflation from January to July 2022 was 4.7 percent. Furthermore, the inflation rate was lower at 3.7 percent in July 2021.

The principal source of the upward trend of the July 2022 inflation was the higher annual growth rate in the index for food. Along with non-alcoholic beverages at 6.9 percent, from 6.0 percent in the previous month.

As the transport index followed with 18.1 percent annual growth, from 17.1 percent in June 2022, it contributed to the uptrend in the overall inflation. Specifically, during the period were the higher annual increments in the indices of different commodity groups.