June inflation highest in five years

Philippine inflation reached a fresh high in at least five years last month, the government reported this morning.
Preliminary results from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed the prices of widely used goods increasing 5.2% in June, faster than 4.6% recorded in May and 2.5% in June 2017.
The latest print exceeded the 4.3-5.1% estimate range by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Department of Economic Research as well as the 4.7% median inflation yielded in a BusinessWorld poll of economists last week.
Year-to-date, headline inflation averaged 4.3%, exceeding the central bank’s 2-4% target for the year.
Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy items, was recorded at 4.3% in June. For the first semester, it averaged 3.4%. — Jochebed B. Gonzales