Inflation likely to drop to 2.5% in September - Recto

Inflation will likely fall to 2.5% this month, an improvement from 3.3% in August, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said Tuesday.

''For September, ang expectation natin is roughly 2.5 (%), it's a range between 2.1 [and] 2.9, the midpoint is roughly 2.5,'' Recto said at a Palace press briefing.

(For September, our expectation is roughly 2.5%. It's a range between 2.1 and 2.9; the midpoint is roughly 2.5.)

Recto expressed confidence that the Philippines would meet the inflation target for September.

National Statistician and Philippine Statistics Authority chief Claire Dennis Mapa earlier said that inflation—which measures the rate of increase in the prices of goods and services—decelerated to 3.3% last month, slower than the 4.4% rate in July.

The PSA attributed it to slower increases in food and transportation costs.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said that the sustained easing of inflation would support growth in household consumption, noting that low-income households will benefit from the decline in food inflation.

Balisacan also said that while inflation continues to trend downward primarily due to reduced import tariffs on rice, some potential pressures could emerge from higher electricity rates as well as above-normal weather disturbances.

Recto said inflation could rise in the fourth quarter, ''but still within the range of 3.1% to 3.9%.'' —VBL, GMA Integrated News