MANILA, July 5, 2023 (BSS/Xinhua) - Year-on-year inflation in the Philippines slowed further to 5.4 percent in June 2023 from 6.1 percent in May due to lower food and transport costs, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday.

 "This is the fifth consecutive month of deceleration in the headline inflation and the lowest in the past 13 months," PSA head Dennis Mapa told a news conference.

 The PSA data showed the average inflation rate from January to June this year stood at 7.2 percent. The inflation rate in June 2022 was higher at 6.1 percent.

 Mapa said the main drivers that pulled down the June inflation rate were food and non-alcoholic beverages, which declined to 6.7 percent from 7.4 percent in May. The faster annual decrease at minus 3.1 percent in transport from minus 0.5 percent in May also contributed to the downtrend of the June inflation.

 Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels were the third main source of deceleration, with a 5.6 percent annual growth rate from 6.5 percent in the previous month.

 Meanwhile, Mapa said the core inflation, excluding selected food and energy items in the headline inflation, slowed to 7.4 percent in June from 7.7 percent in May.

 "We are making progress in managing inflation, and we can expect that it will decline to within 2 to 4 percent by the end of the year," National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

 Balisacan said that the government inter-agency committee on inflation and market outlook will take "proactive steps to address the leading causes of inflation," considering the impending El Nino, which poses risks to food supply and prices.

 The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecasts inflation in the Philippines to average 6.2 percent in 2023 before easing to 4 percent in 2024.