The increase in commodity prices slowed to 7.6 percent in March, according to the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
This is slower than the 8.6 percent posted in February but faster than the 4 percent posted in March 2022. In the first quarter, inflation averaged 7.7 percent.
The latest inflation print was within the 7.4 to 8.2 percent month ahead inflation forecast of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
PSA said among the 13 commodity groups, the continued downtrend of the overall inflation in March 2023 was mainly brought about by the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages, which recorded a lower inflation rate of 9.3 percent from 10.8 percent in the previous month.
This was followed by transport with an inflation rate of 5.3 percent from 9 percent in the previous month. The third primary driver of the downtrend of the headline inflation during the month was housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which recorded a 7.6 percent inflation rate from 8.6 percent in February 2023.
Other commodity groups that contributed to the downtrend in the March 2023 headline inflation were health and information and communication commodity groups, which registered lower inflation rates during the month at 3.9 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, compared with their previous month’s inflation rates.
Inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) also decelerated to 7.8 percent in March 2023 from 8.7 percent in February 2023. In March of the previous year, inflation rate in the area was recorded at 3.4 percent
Inflation rate in Areas Outside NCR, likewise, decelerated further to 7.5 percent in March 2023 from 8.5 percent in February 2023. Inflation in the area in March of the previous year was lower at 4.1 percent.
Meanwhile, overall inflation for the bottom 30 percent income households at the national level slowed down to 8.8 percent in March 2023 from 9.7 percent in February 2023.
In the same month of the previous year, the inflation rate was recorded at 4.2 percent. The annual average inflation from January to March 2023 stood at 9.4 percent.
The lower annual growth in the index of the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 9.5 percent during the month from 10.3 percent in February 2023 primarily pulled down the overall inflation for this income group.
This was followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels with 9.5 percent annual mark-up from 12.2 percent in the previous month.
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