In June, prices of heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 6.1 percent, following a 5.7 percent in May. It is the highest food inflation since September 2014.
In addition, cost rose at a faster pace for: alcoholic beverages and tobacco (20.8 percent from 20.5 percent in May); housing, water. electricity, gas and other fuels (4.6 percent from 3 percent); furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (3 percent from 2.9 percent); transport (7 percent from 6.2 percent); communication (0.4 percent from 0.3 percent); and education (4 percent from 1.8 percent). Meantime, inflation was steady for: clothing and footwear (2.2 percent); while went up at a softer rate for: health (2.7 percent from 2.8 percent); recreation and culture (1.4 percent from 1.5 percent); and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services (3.6 percent from 3.7 percent).
On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 0.6 percent, compared to a flat reading in May. It is the highest monthly figure since February, as prices increased for all categories: food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.7 percent); alcoholic beverages & tobacco (5.9 percent); clothing and footwear (0.2 percent); housing, water. electricity, gas and other fuels (0.2 percent); furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house (0.2 percent); health (0.2 percent); transport (0.4 percent); communication (0.1 percent); recreation and culture (0.2 percent); education (3.75 percent); and restaurants and miscellaneous goods and services (0.3 percent).
In March 2018, Philippine Statistics Authority decided to rebase CPI series to 2012 from 2006 in order to accommodate the economic changes in the country.
For 2018, the central bank set an inflation target range of between 2 to 4 percent.