Philippine headline inflation to have eased further in April, BSP likely to stand pat this week

Philippine inflation data for the month of April is set to release tomorrow. According to a DBS Bank research report, the headline consumer price inflation is expected to have eased further to 3.2 percent in spite of the rising oil price.

The average fuel price has remained flat as compared to the fourth quarter 2018. Meanwhile, owing to the timely foodstuff imports, food price eased in April, driving overall inflation lower. Given the stable inflation slowdown, the BSP might have enough policy space to cut rates if growth disappoint further.

“However, for this week’s policy meeting, BSP might still prefer to stand pat, while keeping the powder dry should further data shows that the economy needs more stimulus in the near future”, added DBS Bank.