MANILA, Philippines — Inflation further eased to 3.3% in March as increases in prices of food and beverages continued to slow.

A Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report on Friday indicated that the year-on-year rate of increase in prices of basic commodities last month was the lowest since the 2.9% posted in December 2017.

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PSA data showed that price increases in seven commodity groups decelerated last March, namely: food and non-alcoholic beverages; 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.

Prices in March inched up 0.1% from February levels, the same month-on-month rise a month ago.

In the first quarter of 2019, headline inflation averaged 3.8%. This is within the government’s 3-4% target range.

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