MANILA, Philippines – After plunging to its lowest level in more than four years in September, the Philippines’ inflation rate rose to 2.3% in October.
In September, inflation was only at 1.9%, which had been the lowest rate since May 2020’s 1.6%.
A year ago, in October 2023, it was at 4.9%.
Year-to-date, average inflation now stands at 3.3%, still within the government’s target range of 2% to 4%.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said in a press conference on Tuesday, November 5, that the main contributor to the increase in inflation was the food and non-alcoholic beverages index, which went up from 1.4% in September to 2.9% in October.
The increase in that index was driven by cereals and cereal products, which posted inflation of 7.5% in October from 4.9% in September. Under cereals and cereal products, rice in particular pushed up inflation.
By commodity, rice was the top contributor to the overall rate as well, increasing from 5.7% in September to 9.6% in October for a 0.7-percentage-point share.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas earlier estimated inflation would rise to within the range of 2% to 2.8%. – Rappler.com
