The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) has stepped up efforts to ensure adequate supply and keep prices of key commodities affordable despite weather disturbances.
The DEPDev made the commitment after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday that headline inflation rose to 1.5% in August from 0.9% in July.
In a briefing, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the latest data brought the year-to-date average inflation to 1.7%, still below the lower end of the government’s 2% to 4% target range, and that weather disturbances likely contributed to the rise in food prices last month.
While rice continued to post deflation of 17% in August, fish inflation rose to 9.5% from 6.3%, emerging as the main contributor to overall inflation in August.
This was due to the slow arrival of imports, adverse weather conditions, and above-normal rainfall that disrupted fishing activities in key areas.
Vegetable inflation also rose to 10% from a 4.7% deflation in the previous month.
On the other hand, meat inflation eased to 7.1% from 8.8% but continued to be a major contributor to inflation.
The PSA reported that the overall inflation rate for the bottom 30% of income households at the national level recorded a slower annual decline of 0.6% in August compared to 0.8% in the previous month.
This brought the national average inflation rate for this income group from January to August to 0.4%.
