MANILA: The Philippines has registered 0.4 percent inflation rate in October, the same rate as seen in previous month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Thursday.
Inflation reached 4.3 percent in October last year.
“Mixed movements in the annual growths were posted among the commodity groups,” PSA said.
The indices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; health; and transport exhibited higher annual rates while slowdowns were seen in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; and recreation and culture.
The index for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels continued to post annual decline. Growths for rest of the commodity groups remained at their previous month’s rates.
For the first 10 months to October, inflation rate averaged at 1.4 percent.
“The current low inflation environment is expected to continue throughout the year. This will largely be due to favorable supply-side factors such as the availability of ample food supply and low international oil prices,” said Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
