MANILA -Inflation in the Philippines slowed down for the third month in a row to 6.6 percent in April from 7.6 percent in March, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
The April print is slower than expected, with analysts having penciled in a consensus forecast of 7 percent and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 6.7 percent.
National Statistician Dennis Mapa said this was mainly due to slower increases of prices of vegetables, fish and meat as well as of diesel and gasoline, and also electricity and LPG.
For the four months from January to April, inflation averaged at 7.9 percent.
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that inflation slowing down for the third month “implies a continued downtrend.”
“The recent inflation numbers indicate that we are on track to managing inflation to within target sometime in the fourth quarter, if not sooner, and near the midpoint of the target range of 2 to 4 percent by next year,” Diokno added.
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BSP: Inflation likely eased below 7% in April