The rate of increase in consumer prices decelerated for the fifth consecutive month in June, reaching its lowest level in over a year, on the back of reduced transport costs and gradual ascent in food and utility prices. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday, July 5, that the headline inflation eased further to 5.4 percent in June from 6.1 percent a month ago, marking the lowest rate since June 2022. In addition, it stood below the inflation rate of 6.1 percent recorded in June of the previous year, which also marked the fifth occurrence of a decline since reaching its peak of 8.7 percent in January. Moreover, June's figure was aligned with the projected range of 5.3 percent to 6.1 percent set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and below the median estimate of 5.5 percent by private analysts. “We are making progress in managing inflation and we can expect that it will decline to within two to four percent by the end of the year,” National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a statement. Balisacan said the inflation rate deceleration can be primarily attributed to a decrease in food inflation, which slowed to 6.7 percent compared to the previous month’s 7.5 percent. Additionally, non-food inflation also experienced a slowdown, declining from 5.0 percent in May to 4.1 percent in June. This decline in food prices, meanwhile, was due to a slower rate of inflation in meat (0.3 percent compared to 3.2 percent), eggs & dairy products (11.2 percent compared to 12.1 percent), and bread & other cereals (11 percent compared to 11.4 percent). But despite this positive trend, headline inflation has remained persistently high throughout the first half of the year, averaging 7.2 percent. This figure stands significantly above the government's target band of 2.0 percent to 4.0 percent. Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the latest inflation figure serves as confirmation that the momentum for possible price hikes has been steadily diminishing in recent months. “The seasonally adjusted month-on-month inflation slowed down to 0.1 percent in June 2023, from a 0.3 percent monthly rate in the previous month,” Diokno cited. Core inflation, which excludes selected volatile food and energy items, declined to 7.4 percent in June from 7.7 percent in the previous month, also depicting a tapering in price pressures. “The consistent decline in inflation rate for the fifth consecutive month suggests the government’s continued progress in taming inflation,” Diokno said. "This indicates that we are on track to manage inflation to within target sometime in the fourth quarter of this year and below the lower limit of the target in the first quarter of 2024,” he added. Despite the slowdown, Diokno said there is still more to do, but the economic team assures the Filipino nation that the Marcos administration is ready to take on forthcoming challenges and bring down the cost of living while fostering a robust economic environment.