Inflation quickens to 2.5% in October; high food prices cited
The rate of increase in consumer prices quickened last month due to higher food prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced.
(ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
The country’s headline inflation clocked in at 2.5 percent in October this year, faster than the 2.3 percent in September and 0.8 percent in the same month last year, the PSA data showed.
Last month’s inflation rate was the fastest in three-months and at the upper end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ forecast range of 1.9 percent to 2.7 percent.
The central bank had earlier anticipated consumer prices would climb in October due to higher electricity rates and food prices caused by the recent typhoons that disrupted production and harvests.
“Higher overall inflation was primarily brought about by the increase in the inflation of the heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages,” the PSA said in a statement.
Food inflation snapped five straight months of slowdown, settling at a faster pace of 2.1 percent in October from 1.5 percent in September and minus 1.3 percent in the same month in 2019.
“Higher inflation in the country’s food index was mainly caused by the jump in the inflation of the meat index at 4.7 percent during the month, from 2.9 percent in September 2020,” PSA said.
Inflation rates were also higher for fish, as well as oils and fats at 3.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
Other food groups such as rice, corn, and vegetables, meanwhile, continued to register negative annual rates during the month.
Likewise, inflation for education rose by 1.2 percent, while restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services jumped 2.4 percent in September.
On the other hand, slowdowns in the inflation were seen in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (11.3 percent), clothing and footwear (1.7 percent), housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels (0.9 percent), health (2.7 percent) and transport (7.9 percent).
In October, core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, decelerated to 3.0 percent from 3.2 percent in the previous month, but quicker than a year ago’s 2.6 percent.
In the first 10- months of the year, inflation rate stood at 2.5 percent, well within the Duterte administration’s target of 2.0 percent to 4.0 percent.