CONSUMER prices continued their upward trend in May, reaching a 13-month high of 4.5 percent as policy-makers continue to keep a close eye on inflationary pressures.
In a report by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the figure topped last April's movement of 4.3 percent but within the Monetary Board’s forecast of 4.5 to 4.7 percent for the month. The last time the Philippines had the same inflation rate was in April 2010.
Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation accelerated to 3.7 percent from the revised 3.3 percent in April.
The NSO said it noticed higher annual growth in the indexes of clothing, fuel, light and water (FLW) and miscellaneous items last month.
Prices of food items such as rice, flour and flour products, meat and meals rose higher in many regions.
However, rollbacks in gasoline and diesel and lower charges in electricity rates were observed in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Slower monthly adjustments in electricity rates in many regions were also noted during the month, the NSO said.
The average-year-to-date inflation of 4.2 percent is still within the central bank's target of three to five percent for this year.
"This calls for continued close monitoring of possible sources of inflationary impulses and their likely impact on future inflation and inflation expectations to ensure that the monetary policy stance is consistent with the price objective," Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a statement.
The BSP earlier implemented a rate hike twice to tame inflation, putting the overnight borrowing rate at 4.50 percent and the overnight lending rate at 6.50 percent.
Tetangco said the BSP will hold its policy review on June 16. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)
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