July Inflation Rises to 4.4% Amid Price Increases

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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced on Monday that inflation surged to 4.4% in July, driven by rising costs of power, fuel, water, and essential food items, exceeding the government's target range of 2.0% to 4.0%.


This increase marks a rise from the 3.7% recorded in June, although it is slightly lower than the 4.7% seen in July of the previous year. This shift ends a streak of seven months where inflation rates remained within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) target.


Despite the uptick, the July inflation rate is still within the BSP’s estimate of 4.0% to 4.8% for the month, although it exceeds the 4.1% median forecast from a Manila Times poll of economists.


The PSA attributed the inflation rise primarily to a significant year-on-year increase in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which rose to 2.3% from just 0.1% in June. Additionally, the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which carry substantial weight in the inflation calculation, also increased, climbing to 6.4% from 6.1% the previous month.


Food inflation specifically rose to 6.7% in July, up from 6.5% in June. Notably, rice inflation, which had been a significant contributor to rising prices in prior months, decreased to 20.9% from 22.5% in June.


Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also slowed to 2.9% from 3.1% in the previous month and 6.7% a year ago. Year-to-date, headline inflation stands at 3.7%, while core inflation is at 3.3%, both remaining within the central bank's target range for the year.

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