Inflation climbs to 4.1 pct in April

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Inflation rose to 4.1 percent in April from 3.9 percent in March due to increases in the price of food, electricity and fuel, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said today.

Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation also inched up to 2.9 percent in April from 2.8 percent in March.

Eastern Visayas in central Philippines, which bore the brunt of typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda), recorded the highest inflation rate among the regions in the country at 7.2 percent.

PSA said that among all the commodities, food and non-alcoholic beverages registered the highest increase in price at 6.2 percent.

Rental rates as well as the prices of electricity, water, and fuel went up by an average of 2.5 percent in April.

For the first four months of the year, PSA said inflation averaged 4.1 percent, well within the 3 to 5 percent target of the Philippine government for 2014.

The Philippine central bank earlier projected that inflation for 2014 would average 4.2 percent.