Nationwide rate up 3.5% CV consumer prices remain stable in October

CEBU, Philippines — The growth in consumer prices in Central Visayas remained stable last month despite the national uptick in inflation.

Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority showed yesterday that Region 7's headline inflation in October stood at 3 percent, unchanged from September.

Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages in Central Visayas also rose 3.3 percent last month, up from 3.1 percent the month prior.

Price adjustments in alcoholic beverages however recorded a slower uptick in October at 1.9 percent from 2 percent a month prior.

Prices of utilities – which include housing, fuel, electricity and water – also recorded a slower adjustment at 4.6% last month, from 4.9 percent in September.

However, consumer prices nationwide rose 3.5 percent in October at its fastest uptick since 2014.

This brought average inflation in the January to October period to 3.2 percent within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' 2-4 percent target.

In his earlier economic bulletin, Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said as for food inflation, it started to taper down last month, slightly easing to 3.5 percent from September’s 3.6 percent.

Moving forward, consumer prices are seen to remain manageable on the expected palay harvest in the latter part of the year and as base effects from the utilities sub-group taper off, he said.

“Food inflation may decline further in November 2017 as the rice harvest season has started pushing down domestic rice prices,” Beltran said.

For October, Beltran said food prices have already started to slide down to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent in September.

Inflation in September settled at a five-month high of 3.4 percent from 3.1 percent in August, driven by higher food prices during the period.

The manageable inflation environment, coupled with robust domestic growth, prompted the Monetary Board to keep the benchmark interest rates steady.

Third-quarter GDP data, due to be released on Nov. 16, would likely show the economy grew faster than the previous quarter's 6.5 percent, according to economic planning chief Ernesto Pernia, driven by strong domestic demand and farm sector. (FREEMAN)