PHILIPPINE inflation quickened in November to a 21-month high driven by higher food prices caused by destructive storms and typhoons which ravaged the country, the state statistics bureau said on Friday.
The consumer price index rose at a faster annual pace of 3.3 percent last month, its highest since February 2019.
This was beyond the 2.4 to 3.2 percent range forecast by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Department of Economic Research for the month.
Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation doubled in November from October.
The BSP think tank earlier said the impact of storms and typhoons on prices of rice and agricultural products, and higher domestic oil prices contributed to upward price pressures, while lower electricity rates and the appreciation of the peso likely helped offset it.
Core inflation which strips out volatile food and fuel items, came in at 3.2 percent.
Inflation averaged 2.6 percent in the January-November period, still below the midpoint of the official two to four percent target range for the year.
On Thursday, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Benjamin Diokno said the central bank’s policy action would remain data-driven.
“Nonetheless, inflation is expected to settle within the government’s target range of 3.0 percent plus or minus 1.0 percent for 2020-2022 as the impact of supply disruptions due to recent typhoons is expected to be largely transitory,” BSP said in a statement.
The BSP earlier said that benign inflation has allowed it to reduce interest rates as it attempts to stimulate the economy amid the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (ABS-CBN News)
