Inflation quickens to 3.4 percent in February

MANILA, Philippines, March 6 ------ Inflation quickened to a two-month high of 3.4 percent in February from 2.8 percent in January, snapping four straight months of decline amid faster upticks in food prices such as rice and meat and transport costs. 

The February inflation print, however was lower than the 8.6 percent booked in the same month last year and was within the 2.8 percent to 3.6 percent forecast of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Prior to the pick-up last month, the rate of increase in the average prices of consumer goods and services has been declining since September 2023. 

National Statistician Dennis Mapa said in a press briefing yesterday the uptrend in inflation was driven by food and non-alcoholic beverages, which posted an inflation rate of 4.6 percent in February from 3.5 percent in the previous month. Food inflation went up to 4.8 percent from 3.3 percent due to higher rice and meat prices. 

Rice posted a higher inflation rate of 23.7 percent in February from the previous month’s 22.6 percent. Mapa said the February rice inflation was the highest since the 24.6 percent recorded in February 2009. World market prices of rice have been rising and all three classifications of the staple tracked by the Philippine Statistics Authority also posted increases, Mapa said. “Assuming no reduction in the price, and the movement will continue, we should be expecting high rice inflation until July or August this year,” Mapa said. 

Meat recorded a 0.7 percent increment in February after easing by 0.7 percent in January. The transport commodity group was cited as another driver of the higher headline inflation rate as the index registered a 1.2 percent increase from a 0.3 percent decline. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels also contributed to the uptrend as it recorded a faster uptick of 0.9 percent in February from the previous month’s 0.7 percent. National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government would continue to monitor food supply and prices and implement policies to ensure affordable and adequate food especially for the most vulnerable sectors. 

Source: philstar.com