MANILA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Headline inflation in the Philippines accelerated to 4.9 percent year-on-year in April from 4 percent in March, mainly due to higher prices of food, utilities and transport, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.
PSA head Dennis Mapa told an online briefing that the April inflation rate was the highest recorded since January 2019. The average inflation for the first four months of this year stood at 3.7 percent.
The rising inflation was largely blamed on the higher annual increase in the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages, at 3.8 percent, transport at 13.0 percent, and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 6.9 percent, according to Mapa.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said world commodity prices have remained high due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
"The impact is felt domestically not just on food and basic goods but also on transport and utilities," Chua said. Meanwhile, he said non-food inflation increased from 5 percent in March to 5.4 percent in April, mainly due to elevated oil prices. ■