Slower price rises of food and non-alcoholic beverages pulled the country’s inflation in November to 4.2 percent from 4.6 percent the previous month, the Philippine Statistics Authority yesterday said.
The heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index slid at 3.9 percent during the month, from 5.3 percent in October 2021.
In particular, vegetable inflation turned negative at -1.8 percent in November from 11.4 percent in October. Fish inflation also dropped to 7.9 percent from 9.5 percent in the same period. Meat inflation likewise decreased to 10.7 percent from 11.9 percent, while pork inflation decreased to 17.3 percent from 23.3 percent.
In addition, lower inflation was also recorded in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 7.5 percent, and furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house at 2.4 percent.
However, even with the decline, the average inflation, at 4.5 percent from January to November, is still above the government target range of between 2 and 4 percent.
Benjamin Diokno, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor, said November’s slowdown was “slightly higher than anticipated,” settling above the BSP’s forecast range for the month of between 3.3 and 4.1 percent.
“The average inflation point to a breach of the inflation target. Nonetheless, average inflation is still projected to fall within the government’s target range in 2022 and 2023 as supply side pressures moderate,” Diokno said.
Looking forward, Diokno said the risks to the inflation outlook “are on the upside for 2022 but remain broadly balanced for 2023,” with the upside risks mainly linked to the potential impact of weather disturbances on the prices of key food items and the possibility of a prolonged recovery of domestic food supply.
“Strong global demand amid persistent supply-chain bottlenecks could also exert further upward pressures on international commodity prices,” Diokno said.
He added potential delays in the lifting of domestic lockdown measures as well as the emergence of more transmissible coronavirus variants “could dampen the prospects for both global and domestic demand and temper inflationary pressures.”
Karl Kendrick Chua, socioeconomic planning secretary, said non-food inflation slightly rose to 4.1 percent from 3.8 percent for the same period, driven by high international crude oil prices, which drove up transport inflation to 8.8 percent from 7.1 percent.
This was also reflected in the higher inflation seen in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 4.6 percent from 4.4 percent.
Diokno, meanwhile, said the BSP stands ready to maintain its accommodative monetary policy stance “to support the economy’s recovery while also guarding against any emerging risks to its price and stability objectives.”
