PRICE increases, especially of food and beverage, continued to slow down for the fifth consecutive month in March, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced Friday, April 5.

Data from the PSA showed that headline inflation decelerated to 3.3 percent in March, slower than the 3.8 percent in February and the lowest since the 3.4 percent in January 2018.

The slower pace of increase in the prices of goods and services was driven by lower prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages.

"The downtrend was primarily due to slower annual increase in the index of the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 3.4 percent," the PSA said.

The PSA also noted the slowdown in price increases in alcoholic beverages and tobacco; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels; furnishing, household equipment, and routine maintenance of the house; health; communication; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services.

Since February 2019, the inflation rate has setted within the two to four percent target range by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for 2019.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Palace welcomed the "continuous deceleration" of the inflation rate.

"We are confident that this slide would continue further for the rest of the year, as President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's signing of Republic Act 11203 (Rice Tariffication Law) last February is expected to further ease inflation," Panelo said.

"Our economic managers expect rice prices to go down and even cut inflation by 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent point this year," he added.

Panelo also pledged that the government would continue to look for ways to temper possible soaring prices of basic goods, especially amid the onslaught of El Niño.

He made the vow despite the "downward path of inflation" observed for the five straight months due to the government's resolve to cushion the impact of increase in consumer prices.

Panelo noted that as part of the pre-El Niño action, the Agriculture department has already distributed water pumps and shallow tube wells, and is ready to conduct cloud seeding, "if necessary."

"The government, however, would not be complacent and has been vigilant in keeping a close watch on the prices of goods and commodities with the onslaught of El Niño, which may hamper food production," he said.

"The Palace calls on everyone to participate in water preservation not only in agriculture but also in our daily consumption to increase our resiliency against this extreme weather phenomenon," the Palace official added. (SunStar Philippines)