The country’s inflation rate declined by 6.8 percent in May from 7.2 percent in April due to lower prices of key goods and services.
According to a report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Friday, the easing of inflation was driven by lower prices in the transportation and food sectors, amid the energy crisis brought about by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The latest inflation figure was also lower than the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) forecast of 7.1 to 7.9 percent for May.
It likewise came in below the 7.7 percent median estimate projected by economic experts.
Despite the slowdown, inflation remains above the government’s target range of 2 to 4 percent and continues to hover near its highest level in more than three years.
As a result, the country’s average inflation rate for the first five months of the year reached 4.5 percent.
A significant factor behind the easing inflation was the decline in transportation costs, which slowed to 16.2 percent in May from 21.4 percent in April following a series of fuel price rollbacks.
Food inflation also eased to 5.7 percent from 6 percent in the previous month.
Meanwhile, inflation for housing and utilities declined to 7.8 percent from 8.2 percent after the government implemented the suspension of excise taxes on kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).