Phl inflation eases to 3.7 pct in November

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The inflation rate of the Philippines eased to 3.7 percent in November, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) today.

The inflation ease was largely due to lower prices of food and utilities amid the decline in fuel prices.

Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation slowed to 2.7 percent in November. In October, core inflation was recorded at 3.2 percent. In November 2013, the figure stood at 2.8 percent.

"Lower charges in the electricity rates in most of the regions and rollbacks in prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), kerosene, gasoline and diesel nationwide were noted during the month," the PSA said.

"Contributing to the negative growth were cheaper prices of pork, chicken, fish and vegetables in National Capital Region (NCR) . In addition, price reductions were also noted in rice, pork, chicken and sugar in many regions," it added.

In terms of commodities, the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages slowed to 6.5 percent in November while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels slowed to 0.3 percent.

The year-on-year growth of the food alone index in the Philippines slowed to 6.7 percent in November 2014. It was pegged at 7.2 percent last month and 4 percent in November 2013.

Inflation in NCR settled at 2.4 percent in November, lower than the 3.6 percent posted in October 2014, but higher than 1.9 percent in November 2013.

For the past 11 months, inflation averaged 4.3 percent in the Philippines. It is within the government's target of 3 percent to 5 percent inflation this year.