Philippine inflation down to 11.2 pct in October
5/11/2008 16:34
The annual inflation eased to 11.2 percent in October, lower than
September's 11.8 percent, the Philippine government said today.
In today's
statement, the National Statistics Office revised September annual inflation to
11.8 percent from 11.9 percent.
Consumer prices rose at a slower pace for the
second month in a row, the statistics office said in a statement. The pace of
hike in consumer goods and services started hitting double-digit levels in June
and peaked at a 15-year high of 12.5 percent in August as oil prices surged to
US$145 a barrel in late July.
The October figure was lower than the central
bank BSP's inflation estimate of between 11.3 percent to 12.1 percent.
The
deceleration was attributed to slower annual price increases in food and fuel
among other items. Inflation a year ago was 2.7 percent.
"Decreases in the
prices of food items such as rice, corn, pork and chicken along with the series
of reductions in the prices of kerosene, gasoline and diesel pushed down the
overall consumer prices by -0.4 percent in October, the same rate posted in
September," according to the statement.
Excluding selected food and energy
items, core inflation went up at a rate of 7.8 percent in October from 7.5
percent in September.
Earlier, the central bank BSP said that prices in the
last quarter of the year may ease further given indications of a continuing
decline in oil and food prices. BSP sees 2008 inflation at nine to 11
percent.
Xinhua
|
