PHL October inflation slows to 2.8%, says NSO

The country's year-on-year headline inflation rate continued to move at a slower pace of 2.8 percent in October from 3.5 percent in September according to a statement released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) Friday morning. "The slowdown was triggered by the deceleration in the inflation rates of food, beverages and tobacco (FBT, fuel, light and water (FLW) and miscellaneous items index," according to NSO Administrator Carmelita N. Ericta. Inflation a year ago was 1.6 percent. Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation decelerated to 3.3 percent in October from 3.8 percent in September. The NSO also reported that the annual inflation rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) also eased to 2.2 percent in October from 3.5 percent in September as a negative annual rate was posted in the heavily weighted FBT index. The NSO explained that slower annual price gains in clothing, FLW and miscellaneous items index also contributed to the downtrend. Annual inflation rate in Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR) further slowed down to 2.9 percent in October from 3.5 percent in September. The NSO said this was effected by the lower annual growth rates in the indexes of FBT, FLW and miscellaneous items. Consumer prices continued to decline at -0.2 percent in October, according to NSO data. This, the NSO pointed out, was brought about by lower electricity rates in selected regions including NCR. Price reductions in some food items such as rice, corn, eggs, vegetables and chicken in selected regions also contributed to the downward movement, the NSO said. -- GMANews.TV