Philippine Central Bank to Act as Inflation Slows to 6.8%
Philippine central bank officials will take action as May inflation slowed to 6.8%. A rate hike is expected on June 18 to return price growth to the 3% target.
The Philippines central bank will take necessary actions to return inflation to its 3% target after annual price growth slowed to 6.8% in May. This figure compares to 7.2% in April and defied economist expectations of a jump to 7.5% for the month. The move aims to ensure price stability as headline inflation has remained above the government goal for three consecutive months.
### Inflation Decelerates on Lower Food and Transport Costs The statistics agency reported that the 6.8% headline figure resulted primarily from slower price increases in transport and food. Transport costs rose 16.2% year-over-year in May, a sharp drop from the 21.4% recorded in April, as diesel and gasoline price growth cooled. Food inflation also eased to 5.8% from 6.1% the previous month.
