2019.10.0400:04:00UTC+00Philippine Inflation Slowest In More Than 3 Years

Philippine inflation eased to the lowest in more than three years in September largely on food prices, figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed Friday.

Consumer price inflation slowed to 0.9 percent in September from 1.7 percent in August. In the same period last year, inflation was 6.7 percent.

The latest rate was the weakest since June 2016 and below economists' forecast of 1.1 percent.

Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation decelerated to 2.7 percent from 2.9 percent a month ago.

Food prices declined 1.3 percent annually. At the same time, clothing and footwear prices grew at a slower pace of 2.7 percent and housing and other utilities costs gained 0.8 percent.

In September, the Philippine central bank slashed its key interest rate by a quarter-point for a second consecutive session citing lower inflation.

The central bank expects inflation to settle within the lower half of the target range of 2-4 percent until 2021.