MANILA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' year-on-year headline inflation was posted at 4.5 percent in May, the same rate as in April, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.
The country's average headline inflation from January to May was posted at 4.4 percent, PSA head Dennis Mapa said in an online press conference.
"There were mixed movements in the annual growth rates in the indices of the commodity groups in May 2021," Mapa added.
He said the annual growth rates "moved up at faster pace" in May in the indices of commodity groups such as clothing and footwear, 1.7 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, 1.9 percent; furnishing, household equipment, and routine maintenance of the house, 2.5 percent; health, 3.2 percent; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, 3.8 percent.
Meanwhile, Mapa said inflation decelerated further in food and non-alcoholic beverages indices at 4.6 percent; and alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 11.8 percent. Likewise, the double-digit annual hike in the transport index slowed down to 16.5 percent during the month.
Excluding selected food and energy items, Mapa said core inflation in May was posted at 3.3 percent, which was the same annual rate recorded in the previous month. Enditem
