By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos
MANILA – The headline inflation fell to its lowest level in April this year because of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s economic interventions to lower commodity prices, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
This, as Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro welcomed the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) latest report which showed that the country’s inflation rate eased further to 1.4 percent in April 2025, down from 1.8 percent in March and the lowest since November 2019.
“Ang pagbaba ng inflation rate ay patunay na patuloy ang pagsisikap ng Pangulong Marcos Jr. at ng administrasyon na palakasin ang ating ekonomiya (The decline in the inflation rate is proof that President Marcos Jr. and the administration are continuing their efforts to strengthen our economy),” Castro said in a Palace press briefing.
According to the PSA report, the average inflation rate from January to April 2025 stood at 2 percent, well within the government’s target range of 2 to 4 percent.
The downward trend in last month’s overall inflation was due to the slower increase in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 0.9 percent from 2.2 percent in March 2025.
Food inflation at the national level dropped significantly to 0.7 percent in April 2025 from 2.3 percent in March.
The lower food inflation was due to the faster year-on-year decline of rice index at 10.9 percent, as well as the lower inflation rates of vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses at 2.3 percent.
The PSA also noted that another contributor to the lower inflation was the faster year-on-year decrease in the transport index, which was at 2.1 percent from a 1.1 percent annual drop in March 2025.
The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development said the Marcos administration would continue to closely monitor the prices of basic commodities and implement measures to mitigate inflationary pressures, despite the downward trend in inflation rate. (PNA)
