INFLATION hit a 20-month low in November due to the further deceleration of food and non-food prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday.
The PSA said inflation further eased to 4.1% from 4.9% in October, bringing the year-to-date average to 6.2%. It was the slowest increase in prices since March 2022 (4%).
The downtrend in overall inflation in November was primarily brought about by the decrease in food inflation to 5.8% from 7.1% in October.
This was because of the deflation in vegetables (-2.0% from 11.9%) and the lower inflation of fish (4.9% from 5.6%), meat (0.5% from 0.8%), sugar (1.5% from 4.9%), bread and other cereals (6.9% from 7.4%), and fruits (13.1% from 13.5%).
Non-food inflation eased further to 2.9% from 3.4% in October, in light of the deflation in transportation (-0.8% from 1.0%) and slower inflation in restaurant and accommodation services (5.6% from 6.3%).
“With the right interventions in place, including the proper and timely deployment of trade policy, we are confident that we can effectively manage inflation and prevent unnecessary upticks in prices of goods and commodities to safeguard the purchasing power of Filipino families, especially those from the most vulnerable sectors,” National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
