MANILA - Philippine consumer prices are expected to pick up for the rest of the year after inflation hit a 22-year low of 0.2% in July, a senior central bank official said Thursday.

Acting central bank governor Nestor Espenilla believes "the downward trajectory of inflation" may have reached its trough.

He said the July figure was mainly driven by last year's record-high prices for commodities as well as subdued demand.

It brought the average rate for the first seven months to 4.3%.

Espenilla said he saw inflation rising gradually over the next four months but remaining within the government's target range of 2.5-4.5% for the whole of 2009.

The July data was the lowest since March 1987 when the figure fell to negative 0.6%.

The central bank has been cutting key interest rates all year as inflation fell but in July the central bank hinted that it would no longer continue to slash rates.