Inflation slows down to 2.8% in Nov. — NSO reports

Inflation continued to slow down in November helped by stable food, transport and utilities costs,  the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported Wednesday. 

 

Both headline and core inflation were the slowest since March, according to the NSO. 

 

In a statement, the NSO said  headline inflation rose to 2.8 percent in November, easing from the 4.7 percent recorded in the same month last year and from 3.1 percent last October. 

 

"It resulted from the deceleration in the annual growths posted in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; and transport," Carmencita Ericta, NSO administrator, noted in the statement. 

 

Ericta said increases in production of selected goods in time for the holiday season "pushed down the indices for all items."

 

Trinh Nguyen, Hong Kong-based analyst at Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, agreed with the Philippine government's take on inflation. 

 

"The Philippines finds itself in a rather pleasant situation this year – growth momentum has been strong but inflation has decelerated," Nguyen said in a research note e-mailed to reporters, noting that slowing food prices and contained oil costs helped in bringing down inflation. 

 

She, however, warned of inflationary pressure in the offing. 

 

"[D]omestic demand is strong and an unfavorable base effect is around the corner, which could push upside risks to inflation," Nguyen said. 

 

"Added to this, a storm struck this week could damage crops and cause supply disruptions."

 

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has forecast headline inflation to fall within the 2.7 percent to 3.6 percent range for November.  

The November figure brought the year-to-date average to 3.2 percent, below its full-year forecast of 3.3 percent

 

Meanwhile, core inflation – which excludes the volatile food and energy items – eased to 3.4 percent last month from 3.6 percent in October, the NSO said. 

 

In a separate statement, National Economic and Development Authority officer-in-charge Rolando Tungpalan noted that easing core inflation indicates that consumer price increases would be on the downtrend.   

 

"With the continued benign price increases for the period, we are expecting that inflation should be manageable for the rest of the year," he said. 

 

Malacañang aslo welcomed the latest numbers on inflation, which was  near the lower end of Bangko Sentral's 3 percent to 5 percent target for the year.

 

"This comes at a time when the Philippine economy is growing at a strong 7.1 percent, contrary to the common notion that rapid economic growth is usually accompanied by inflationary pressures," the Palace said in a separate statement. — Siegfrid Alegado/VS, GMA News