Inflation cools to 1.3% in May, slowest pace in nearly 6 years

Vendors tend to their stalls as customers browse at a market in Manila (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s inflation rate further eased to 1.3 percent in May from 1.4 percent in the previous month on the back of lower utility costs and slower price gains in restaurants and accommodation services.

This matched the median estimate of 13 economists polled by Inquirer last week. It also settled within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ forecast range of 0.9 percent to 1.7 percent for May.

READ: Poll: Inflation slowed in May

The latest consumer price data also marked the slowest pace since November 2019, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.

The index of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels eased to 2.3 percent from 2.9 percent in the previous month.

The restaurant and accommodation services index cooled to 2 percent during the month from 2.3 percent in April.

Overall, the latest reading landed below the lower-end of the official target range of 2 to 4 percent.

As it is, another month of benign inflation would support the ongoing easing cycle of the local central bank, which has so far trimmed the benchmark rate that banks typically use when pricing loans to 5.5 percent.

READ: Philippines inflation eased to 1.4% in April, lower than expected